It was the Hail Mary pass America was waiting to witness: a prime time Trump plea to give him his beloved $5 billion dollar border wall so he could save face and reopen the US government. Too bad the pass didn’t connect and ‘The Donald’ fell flat on national television.
Politics
During a prime time Trump plea from inside the Oval Office on Tuesday night, Donald Trump laid out a lackluster case for his long-promised border wall that was riddled with misstatements, exaggerations, and outright lies.
Trump claims border security is a national emergency TODAY and that the situation is so dire, we must act now in order to save America from a rapid influx of drugs, rapists, and overall “bad hombres.”
Too bad, Trump was merely being a drama queen who is hell-bent on attempting to get his way.
Let’s take a look at why the prime time Trump plea to convince Americans he really needs this border wall was a colossal waste of time and didn’t move the needle one iota toward reopening the US government:
DRUGS
Trump claims that unless he is given $5 billion taxpayer dollars to build a border wall, drugs will overrun America and we will all be helpless to overcome it. Um… there are multiple problems with this statement.
Firstly, a wall already exists along the US/Mexico border. Hundreds of security personnel, night-vision cameras, drones, and other high-tech solutions also accompany the existing wall. So, building a brand new wall will not miraculously stop drugs from entering the US.
Secondly, according to data from Customs and Border Protection, 90% of the heroine intercepted at the border, 88% of the cocaine, 87% of methamphetamine, and 80% of fentanyl all enter the US at legal ports of entry, including airports, shipping ports, etc.
Finally, as the old saying goes: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Anyone wanting to illegally enter the US won’t walk through dangerous terrain for miles only to turn back defeated once they see a Trump wall standing in their way. Like anyone encountering a barrier, they have the option to go over it, under it, or around it.
THE VANISHED BIPARTISAN DEAL
Only days before Trump threw a temper-tantrum and shut down the US government, Republicans and Democrats in Congress reached a bipartisan deal that covered border security and funding the government beyond the deadline. However, despite agreeing to sign the bill once it reached his desk, Trump later reneged and gambled that he could use the threat of not paying government workers just to get his way.
Now, Trump and the Republicans are paying for that decision in the court of public opinion.
According to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, nearly half of voters (47%) blame Donald Trump for the shutdown, while another 5% point the finger at congressional Republicans. This should come as no surprise since the bombastic Trump blurted out (without thinking) that he would gladly shut down the government AND take full responsibility for it.
MEXICO WILL PAY?
Throughout his campaign for The White House, Donald Trump was adamant about building his wall and emphatic that he had a way to force Mexico to pay for it. So, what happened? Why are US government workers going into a 3rd week without pay over a wall Trump promised he could make Mexico pay for??
The truth is, Mexico was NEVER going to pay for the wall (just like then-President Vicente Fox said). And, here’s another bit of truth: this wall is NEVER going to be built.
During Tuesday’s prime time Trump plea, a robotic and uncomfortable looking Donald Trump used a 9-minute speech seemingly thrown together in the 11th hour to practically beg for support for his border wall.  However, Republican and Democratic political pundits are already saying that Trump has backed himself into a corner that he won’t be able to comfortably get out of.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have made it crystal clear they are not giving him $5 billion dollars to build a wall he dreamed up in his sleep one night. Also, Trump can’t really declare a fake national emergency just to get his wall without facing legal and political consequences.
So, now Trump has 2 options: keep the US government closed, which is now starting to affect members of his base who rely on federal paychecks, food stamps, and additional government assistance; or reopen the government and give up the border wall fight, which will cause ramifications for Trump and the Republicans in the 2020 election.
Oh, what’s a spoiled brat/narcissistic world leader to do?
