Minnesota Democrat Rep. Collin Peterson said in an interview this week that the Democrats should give President Donald Trump the money that he wants to build the border wall on the southern border.
Peterson, the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, told KFGO’s “News & Views” on Tuesday that “when I bring up what I have to say [to Democrats], they look at me cross-eyed.”
“Give Trump the money,” Peterson said, adding that he would “give him the whole thing … and put strings on it so you make sure he puts the wall where it needs to be.”
“Why are we fighting over this?” Peterson continued. “We’re going to build that wall anyway, at some time.”
In an interview with the MinnPost on Wednesday, Peterson tried to clarify his remarks after enraging Democrats in Washington, D.C., highlighting that he specifically stated that there needed to be strings attached to the money to make sure that it is spent responsibly.
“Anybody that sticks their head up gets it shot off,” Peterson said. “The furor caused yesterday — people didn’t look at what I said, and this is the problem. The press has allowed it to become polarized.”
“I’m not against the wall if it’s done appropriately and done in relation to everything else we need to do,” Peterson continued. “There are places where the wall has not been built, where it could be built, and probably should be built. But we have to have a process to make sure it gets done correctly.”
“Furloughed federal workers are bracing to miss their second paycheck and employee unions are warning of increasingly dire consequences since the partial government shutdown began last month, as officials signal the stalemate in Washington has no end in sight,” Fox News reported on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi exchanged shots back-and-forth over the State of the Union address, with Trump ultimately deciding to drop the issue as he showed a willingness to work with the Democrats.
“Nancy just said she ‘just doesn’t understand why?'” Trump tweeted on Thursday morning. “Very simply, without a Wall it all doesn’t work. Our Country has a chance to greatly reduce Crime, Human Trafficking, Gangs and Drugs. Should have been done for decades. We will not Cave!”
Earlier this month, the Republican National Committee (RNC) launched a new website highlighting statistics about the border, including:
Fact #1: In four Customs and Border Protection sectors where physical barriers have been expanded — El Paso, Yuma, Tucson, and San Diego — illegal traffic has dropped by at least 90%.
Fact #2: In fiscal year 2018, U.S. Border Patrol seized or helped seize 282,000 pounds of cocaine, 248,000 pounds of methamphetamine, 6,500 pounds of heroin, and 2,400 pounds of fentanyl.
Fact #3: In 2018, over 17,000 adults arrested at the border had prior criminal records. This included over 6,000 gang members, a major number of those members were from MS-13.
Fact #4: The Democrats would rather risk the safety of hard-working Americans than work with President Trump to secure our nation’s borders. But in 2013, all 54 Senate Democrats, including Chuck Schumer, voted to pass legislation that provided $46 billion to build a physical barrier on the border.
Fact #5: Nancy Pelosi and her hyper-liberal Congressional colleagues just passed a bill to give $54 BILLION to foreign governments, but Democrats won’t allow just $5 billion to secure our borders and protect American citizens.