During an appearance on "Fox and Friends," conservative pundit Tomi Lahren claimed that the American people "want a wall" at our nation's southern border, and advocated that President Donald Trump shut down the government if Congress doesn't fund it.
"We need to be funding this wall. It's the best $5 billion this government has ever spent, and I'm urging Donald Trump to hold firm on his promise," she said.
Although co-host Steve Doocy pointed out that it looked like Republicans had convinced the president not to shutdown the government, Lahren remained firm.
"Well, his gut instincts were right last week and I hope he holds firm to that," she said, adding:
"Now, there has been talk about reallocating from other places funds to pay for a wall, and I'm not entirely against that, but I will say this: If we need a government shutdown in order to show this country that we are serious about border enforcement and security, then a shutdown is exactly what we need. And when when President Trump listens to his instincts on this, he is right. Which is why he won the election in 2016. He will win on it again in 2020. But he has to hold firm on this. The American people want a wall."
It seems, however, that the American people think otherwise.
According to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, 69 percent of Americans believe that the wall should not be a priority for Congress. 74 percent of Democrats say that the wall shouldn't be a legislative priority at all. By contrast, 63 percent of Republicans described the wall as a "top priority." 51 percent of independent voters said they don't believe the wall should be a priority.
“With Democrats and Independents not connected with President Trump’s desire to build a border wall, it’s not surprising that they want him to compromise to avoid a government shutdown,” Lee M. Miringoff, Marist Institute for Public Opinion director, said in a press release. “On this issue, President Trump and the Republicans are on one side of the fence and Democrats and Independents are on the other.”
Among the poll's other findings:
- 53 percent of Americans approve of the way President Trump's administration has handled border protection, with 92 percent of Republicans and 26 percent of Americans expressing their support; independents, by contrast, are split (49 percent approve whereas 47 percent disapprove).
- 55 percent disapprove of the way the president is handling "irregular immigration on U.S. soil."
- 54 percent disapprove of the way the president is handling efforts to reunite families separated by his administration's "zero tolerance" family separations policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.
This hasn't stopped Lahren from using her Twitter account to advocate for a government shutdown.
At other points, she attempted to speak to the president directly.
President Trump has caved, and his decision not to shut down the government comes the same week as a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll which found that most Americans would blame Trump and the Republicans, not congressional Democrats, for the government shutdown the president had threatened.
54 percent of those surveyed said they are completely opposed to a government shutdown, with only 29 percent saying they would support it. Moreover, 43 percent said they would blame the president and the Republican party for a shutdown while only 24 percent said they would hold Democrats equally responsible. 30 percent of those surveyed said they would hold both parties equally responsible.
Most Democrats (83 percent to 6 percent) are utterly opposed to a shutdown. Independents are also largely opposed (56 percent to 22 percent). Two-thirds of Republicans say they support a government shutdown, however.
Blame, according to the poll, also has "a partisan bent." 81 percent of Democrats say they would blame Republicans for a shutdown. Likewise, 58 percent of Republicans say they would blame Democrats. 43 percent of independent voters say they would blame both parties equally.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had earlier called on Republicans to rein the president in.
"They just have to have the guts to tell President Trump he's off the deep end here and all he is going to get with his temper tantrum is a shutdown," Schumer said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "He will not get a wall."
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