White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told "Fox & Friends" Wednesday morning that President Trump is not backing down from his push for the border wall and border security despite appearing to back off of his threat of a government shutdown over the issue.
Earlier this month, President Trump indicated that he would be “proud to shut down the government” over the issue but the White House argued this week that there are “other ways” to get the $5 billion in funding that President Trump wants for the border wall.
Conway quoted President Trump’s tweet earlier Wednesday, assuring viewers that President Trump will get the money for the wall “one way or another.”
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018
“The president is not softening his stance,” she said. “He has a responsibility to keep the government moving forward and he has responsibility to get border security. If he could do it by himself, he would have done it already.”
She added that she believed the GOP’s failure to stand with the president on this issue is why many of them lost their midterm election races.
“We are relying on a Congress that has proven many times like with tax reform and deregulation, obviously two great Supreme Court justices, they are willing to come up and make a move,” she said, “but on this they’re walking away and I think that’s why some of them lost to be honest with you.”
When asked about the appearance that Trump has “no leverage” in the fight over border funding, Conway claimed that was not the case. She blamed Republicans in Congress for the difficulty in pushing through the funding.
"The president always has leverage," she insisted. "I think the Republicans often take the path of least resistance, and they're giving up their majority soon."
“The CR to keep the government going till February 8th is what they’re looking at now,” she said, “but that does not change whatsoever two important facts: one that this president believes his first and solemn duty is to keep us safe and that includes enhanced border security, keep all this poison, all these drugs flowing over our southern border and people who are risking their lives and coming here illegally. They need to come here legally. The second point, it doesn’t change the fact that the border is so porous that all it’s done is gotten worse since those Democrats voted for border security twelve years ago, it’s only gotten worse.”