Last week, President Donald Trump said all four living presidents – Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama – support his push for building a border wall.
"This should have been done by all the presidents that preceded me, and they all know it," Trump told reporters. "Some of them have told me that we should have done it so, we're not playing games. We have to do it."
According to various reports, however, none of the former presidents had such a conversation with Trump.
The Carter Center took to Twitter to release a statement from the former president about his stance on the border wall, saying very clearly he "does not support" Trump's stance:
Clarification from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter:
— The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) January 7, 2019
"I have not discussed the border wall with President Trump, and do not support him on the issue.” -- Jimmy Carter
A spokesman for Barack Obama reminded reporters of what the former president said a few years ago.
“Suggesting that we can build an endless wall along our borders, and blame our challenges on immigrants — that doesn’t just run counter to our history as the world’s melting pot; it contradicts the evidence that our growth and our innovation and our dynamism has always been spurred by our ability to attract strivers from every corner of the globe,” Obama said at Rutgers University in 2016. “That’s how we became America. Why would we want to stop it now?”
The spokesman also said Obama hasn't spoken to Trump since the inauguration except for a few exchange of words at President George H.W. Bush's funeral last month.
Freddy Ford, a spokesman for George W. Bush, said the former president and Trump have not spoken about the issue of the border wall.
Bill Clinton spokesman Angel Ureña denied Trump's assertion.
“He did not [agree the border wall should be built]. In fact, they’ve not talked since the inauguration," Ureña told POLITICO.
A spokesperson for former President George H.W. Bush declined to comment on the matter saying it was too soon for Bush, who died in November, to be “dragged into such debates," The Washington Post reported