Last updated on November 18th, 2018 at 11:48 am
On his way to visit victims of the deadly wildfires in California, Donald Trump threatened to shut down the federal government.
Speaking to reporters while leaving the White House, Trump said it would be a “very good time” to shutter the government because he isn’t getting the funding he wants to build his pet project wall along the southern U.S. border.
“We’re talking about border wall, we’re talking about quite a big sum of money, about $5 billion,” Trump said.
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He added: “This would be a very good time to do a shutdown. I don’t think it’s going to be necessary, because I think the Democrats will come to their senses, and if they don’t come to their senses, we will continue to win elections.”
First of all, Trump can pin this all on Democrats if he wants, but not even Republicans are behind him on his idea to shut down the government over his wasteful wall.
According to The Hill, GOP Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama said earlier this week, “It’s not a good idea to shut down the government, period.”
Second, Trump‘s claim that Republicans will “continue to win elections” seems to suggest that his party has been winning them. But last week’s midterm results showed Democrats making more gains in House races in a generation.
Once again, Trump is living in an alternative universe.
Trump can’t put politics aside for even a moment
A decent president would understand that threatening a government shutdown just before boarding a plane to visit a wildfire zone probably isn’t the best look.
Not to mention: Trump‘s response to the devastation in California has been a disaster in its own right. Last week, his initial reaction to the deadly blaze was to attack the state.
But Trump, who recently dodged several events to honor U.S. troops because of some raindrops, doesn’t seem to care about optics. All he appears interested in doing following the midterm elections is throwing himself a pity party.
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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.
