Presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway Wednesday insisted that President Donald Trump's stance on a government shutdown is not about building a border wall, but about border security, and said he'll never back down from that fight, even as signs grow that a continuing resolution that will fund the government could be in the works.
"Let's not all acquiesce to the ridiculous soundbite that this is about a wall," Conway told Fox News' "Fox and Friends."
"They are trying to make a wall a four-letter word when the president has been talking about border security all along, as have the Democrats until he became president."
She also denied that Trump is softening his stance.
"He has a responsibility to keep the government moving and he has responsibility to get border security," she said. "If he could do it by himself, he would have done it already."
Trump has stressed though, including on Tuesday to reporters, that he remains determined to get $5 billion for wall construction, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has argued the Trump administration is "extremely flexible" about reaching a spending deal.
In addition, Trump tweeted twice Wednesday morning, shortly after Conway's appearance, about the wall, saying in one tweet, "one way or the other, we will win on the wall!" and in another, that Mexico will pay indirectly for it through the new USMCA trade deal.
In another point, she said, the border is porous, and that has gotten worse since "those Democrats voted for border security 12 years ago. He will continue to fight for that funding. He said in a tweet overnight it's not just a wall."
Trump Tuesday night tweeted about the plans for the wall, saying it will be a "beautiful" structure made of steel slats.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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