Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is backing President Donald Trump’s fight for border wall money, even though it has brought the government to a screeching halt.
In a Fox News appearance Friday night less than an hour before the shutdown officially began, Graham praised the commander in chief’s commitment to push for $5 billion for the barrier. Anyone who disagreed, he claimed, was missing the point.
“When you make a promise to the American people, you should keep it,” Graham said. “The one thing I like about President Trump ― he’s trying his best to keep his promise. He promised to build a wall, and he’s going to fight hard to keep that promise. After the caravan, if you don’t see the need for more border security, you’re blind.”
The GOP senator bashed Democrats for refusing to give in to Trump’s demands, accusing them of acting “like children” and encouraging the president to get tough.
“I think Democrats hate Trump so much they want him to lose even though it would be good for the country to work with him on border security, and if he doesn’t break them now, it’s going to be a terrible 2019,” Graham said. “So, Mr. President, dig in.”
Graham didn’t appear to be bothered by the government shutdown, suggesting it was a necessary measure to persuade resistant Democrats to give more than their standing offer of $1.6 billion to the wall, which already partly exists along the southern border.
“I stand with the president,” Graham declared. “I’m glad he picked this fight. If we do not stand up now to make sure we get more money for the wall, we’ll never get any more next year.”
The key to Trump getting what he wants, the senator said, is making clear “that the border needs to be why the money I’m asking for can be well spent,” noting his confidence that “the president will win this fight.”