Last updated on February 3rd, 2019 at 01:56 pm
Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu told Donald Trump on Saturday that his border wall is not even part of the ongoing bipartisan negotiations to keep the government funded past the upcoming Feb. 15 deadline.
In an interview with MSNBC‘s AM Joy, Lieu said it’s not just Democrats who have taken the wall off the table. Even Republicans don’t view it as a priority, he said.
“Here is the really simple truth: Most Republican legislators don’t really care about this wall,” the Democratic congressman said. “This is not one of their priorities. That’s why they didn’t work on it for over two years.”
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Video:
.@tedlieu says Trump’s border wall is not a priority for either party as they continue to negotiate. #ctl #p2 #amjoy pic.twitter.com/Ok5dwKuePh
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) February 2, 2019
Ted Lieu said:
We have this conference committee of Republicans and Democrats and there are discussions about additional physical barriers in some places and we’ll see how those discussions go, but the wall that Donald Trump envisions, that is not part of the discussion, and by the way, that was not part of the discussion for the last two years when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress. And here is the really simple truth: Most Republican legislators don’t really care about this wall. This is not one of their priorities. That’s why they didn’t work on it for over two years.
Trump’s vanity wall is not a priority for either party
Donald Trump couldn’t get funding for a border wall even when Republicans had firm control of Congress for two years. The idea that he will secure taxpayer dollars for the project with Democrats now in control of the House of Representatives is a pipe dream.
To make matters worse for Trump, it’s not just Democrats standing in the way of his pet project. As Congressman Ted Lieu said on Saturday, Republicans don’t care about it either.
Ultimately, the post-government shutdown strategy of leaders in both parties is to simply ignore Donald Trump’s tantrums and try to keep the government open on their own.
Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
