The morning crew at “Fox & Friends” grilled White House counselor Kellyanne Conway over President Donald Trump‘s willingness, or lack thereof, to shut down the federal government if Congress doesn’t fund a border wall.
Co-host Steve Doocy reminded Conway that the president he would be proud to shut down the government if necessary, before asking her what’s up with that stance, and co-host Brian Kilmeade challenged her non-response.
“Kellyanne, we know all of that, but the president has no leverage!” Kilmeade insisted.
“That’s not true,” she pushed back. “The president always has leverage. I disagree with that.”
Conway then put the onus on Republicans in Congress, who she accurately said: “often take the path of least resistance.”
But she said Trump will not back down from his “solemn duty” to keep America safe, which includes “enhanced border security.”
“The game you’re in right now is the president really has no leverage because the Republicans didn’t present the plan for a vote,” Kilmeade pressed, pointing out that the $5 billion request couldn’t even get through the House.
“Then let the people see that,” Conway countered, before ensuring the Fox & Friends crew that “one way or another” Trump will get the money.
“The people who voted for him want the wall and went to the polls to vote for that wall,” co-host Ainsley Earhardt reminded her. “They want to know how he’s going to do this and they want to know why he seems to be softening his stance this morning.”
Again, Conway insisted that Trump wasn’t softening his stance, prompting Doocy to ask right out if the president is willing to shut down the government over the issue.
“The president has said that he is willing to do what he has to do to get that border security, including a government shutdown,” she answered. “Now, we’ll see what the Senate and the House, when they come together, present to the president.”
True to form, not long after Conway’s appearance, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced from the Senate floor that he will be introducing a continuing resolution to ensure funding for the government through Feb. 8, 2019 — when Nancy Pelosi will then control the purse strings in the House.
Congress has made it a habit to take the coward’s road when it comes to funding the government, passing stopgap spending measures that ensure no real accountability for federal spending.
Oh, and McConnell let it be known that funding for the wall isn’t included in his CR.
“Even if the face of a great need to secure the border and following good-faith efforts by the president’s team, our Democratic colleagues rejected an extremely reasonable offer yesterday,” he said, according to Roll Call.
President Trump seemed to acknowledge this reality in a Tweet early Wednesday — likely coming just after he realized that the weak-kneed GOP is not willing to stand by him in the fight for funding, which would result in a shutdown.
The president tweeted: “In our Country, so much money has been poured down the drain, for so many years, but when it comes to Border Security and the Military, the Democrats fight to the death. We won on the Military, which is being completely rebuilt. One way or the other, we will win on the Wall!”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1075368918204719105
Meanwhile, conservatives understand that first and foremost, Democrats will never acquiesce to the demand for funding a wall out the desire to deny Trump a victory — one of the last, if not biggest campaign promises he has yet to fulfill.
Dems are doing anything they can to BLOCK a TRUMP WALL…
It is the last major campaign PROMISE he has yet to fulfill…
They still DO NOT have a MESSAGE…
Breaking up his base is their ONLY shot at 2020…
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) December 19, 2018
But supporters are warning the president that this is a hill they are willing to die on.
https://twitter.com/vadum/status/1075188011820875776
I’ll make this plain and simple. I voted for Donald Trump because he focused on building a border wall. I never thought Mexico would pay for it, but I expected him to build it nonetheless. The longer he fails to keep this promise the more likely I vote down ballot 2020.
— Cameron Mosley (@BringerOfRain88) December 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/JacobAWohl/status/1075185205021790209
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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