Former President Jimmy Carter denied Monday being one of the past chief executives who President Trump claims endorsed a southern border wall.
“I have not discussed the border wall with President Trump, and do not support him on the issue,” Carter said in a statement shared by his nonprofit group.
Clarification from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter:
“I have not discussed the border wall with President Trump, and do not support him on the issue.” — Jimmy Carter
— The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) January 7, 2019
Trump said last week during a Rose Garden press conference at the White House that building a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border is a project that should have been undertaken by “all of the presidents that preceded me and they all know it.” He added: “Some of them have told me that we should have done it.”
Former President Bill Clinton’s spokesman Angel Urena pushed back on Trump’s story via Politico. “He did not. In fact, they’ve not talked since the inauguration,” Urena said.
George W. Bush representative Freddy Ford told the outlet the 43rd president and Trump have never had a conversation about a wall-like structure at the border.
A spokesperson for the late George H.W. Bush did not immediately respond to press inquiries. The 41st president, who died late last year, and Trump did not share a cordial relationship while the elder Bush was alive.
A representative for former President Barack Obama declined to provide a statement, but Obama did blast the policy proposal last September during a speech at the University of Illinois.
“We know that in a smaller, more connected world, we can’t just put technology back in a box, we can’t just put walls up all around America,” Obama said at the time. “Walls don’t keep out threats like terrorism or disease.”
The breakdown of negotiations between Trump and congressional Democrats over the president’s 2016 campaign promise triggered an ongoing partial federal government shutdown on Dec. 22. Trump wants Congress to provide $5.7 billion to fund border security measures like his wall, but congressional Democratic leaders say they will only be willing to agree to up to $1.3 billion.
