Author: Martin Pengelly / Source: the Guardian
Donald Trump is losing the battle to avoid blame for the government shutdown, according to a new poll. The president has reportedly told advisers he thinks the 23-day partial closure of the federal government, the longest ever, is a win for him.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll released on Sunday followed trends in previous polling when it showed 53% of respondents saying Trump and Republicans in Congress were to blame for the shutdown, with 29% blaming Democrats and 13% a combination.
Support for building a border wall, the issue at the heart of the shutdown, increased to 42%, from 34% in January 2018. Among Republicans, 87% supported a wall.
On Saturday night, Trump spoke to Fox News host Jeannine Pirro by phone from a drastically understaffed White House. Asked why he had yet to declare a national emergency, to build the wall with funds from military, disaster relief or other budgets, a step Democrats oppose but may be unable to stop, he said he was giving Congress a chance to “act responsibly”.
Trump also said he has “no idea” whether he will get a deal with House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who opposes funding an “ineffective, wasteful wall” she has also called “immoral”.
Trump promised a wall on the southern border throughout his presidential campaign. He also promised Mexico would pay for it, a vow he
Senate Republicans, however, will not pass legislation sent by House Democrats to reopen the government without wall funding, as Trump would not sign it.
On Sunday, the Virginia Democratic senator Mark Warner told CNN’s State of the Union: “More border security? Let’s have at it. But while we’re opening the debate, let’s open the government.”
The Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson, who chairs the Senate homeland security committee, told the same show Warner’s party…
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