President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he still wants to shut down the United States government over his immigration and border security demands. Although almost everyone in his party thinks it’s a bad idea, he said, “I think it’s a good thing, politically.”
To justify this misguided action which would harm the country and millions of people Trump once again spewed forth a series of lies which have always been proven false.
He did say, however, that he might delay a government shutdown until after November’s midterm elections because he has been approached by members of his party who warned him that a shutdown would be catastrophic for Republican chances in the 2018 midterms.
Trump made his comments to conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh after the president called into Limbaugh’s show, saying:
“I say, ‘Hey, if you have a shutdown, have a shutdown. Now, the shutdown could also take place after the election. I happen to think it’s a great political thing, because people want border security.”
Trump has been demanding $25 billion more in congressional funding to build his beloved Wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, which was his #1 campaign promise to his supporters. Even though he blames Democrats for failure to reach agreement, it is actually Republicans who control Congress and who cannot agree among themselves on either Wall funding or broader immigration proposals.
Trump told Limbaugh he doesn’t like the “catch and release” program that had been used by administrations before him, and would rather stick with his controversial “zero tolerance” program. Under “catch and release” the detained immigrants without proper documentation are detained but after processing by immigration authorities are released until their immigration proceedings can be concluded and a decision is made on their status. Under “zero tolerance” these same individuals are arrested and incarcerated and are not released, resulting in them spending many months in jail. In addition, they have been separated from their children while in jail, a policy which has been condemned globally.
Trump said said on the radio that the “catch and release” policy meant that “criminals of the highest order” were being released, which has never been true.
Trump then lied again, saying that New York City truck attack suspect Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov “has 22 members of his family in the United States because of chain migration.”
Trump has claimed this before. Then as now, he’s lying about Saipov using family reunification laws to bring over nearly two dozen family members.
Finally, Trump said that, as a result of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, “countries aren’t giving us their best people, they’re giving us people they don’t want.”
That’s not true. Visa recipients through that program must still meet all eligibility requirements to come into the country, including a criminal background check.
What the call-in to Rush Limbaugh by Trump proved is that he is still telling the same old lies about immigration that he has always told. It is these lies that got him elected president, because his supporters are both ignorant and racist. He also knows that continuing to tell falsehoods that are believed by his supporters gives him a chance to stay in power and perhaps be reelected as president in 2020.
This is what he means when he says that a shutdown of the U.S. government is a good thing, politically. He thinks it helps him personally even though it will create havoc for the entire country, harm millions of people’s lives, and be disastrous for candidates in his own party.
Donald Trump is both a sociopath and a narcissist who once again has proven without a doubt that he doesn’t care about anyone but himself.
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