It turns out the concrete wall concept is an old one for President Trump
During a 2004 college commencement speech, the then star of “The Apprentice” said when a “concrete wall” is in the way of a achieving a goal, “go through it” to get to the other side.
“I’ll tell you, to me, the second-most important thing after love what you do is never, ever give up. Don’t give up. Don’t allow it to happen,” Trump told graduating students at Wagner College, in Staten Island, N.Y. “If there’s a concrete wall in front of you, go through it. Go over it. Go around it. But get to the other side of that wall.”
Oh man, once Trump gets his wall he better hope no one shows Mexico this old video we found. pic.twitter.com/FtzeGlmecz
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 10, 2019
“The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah pointed out the irony in a Wednesday night segment featuring the nearly 15-year-old graduation speech.
“The frustrating thing is that illegal immigration is a nuanced, complex issue … It’s not an easy issue. But because of Trump, no one is talking about that anymore. The whole debate has just devolved into: wall or not wall,” Noah said. “And if it’s one thing we know, it’s that nothing will stop immigrants from trying to come to America. This is a place that people dream of coming to because people who are trying to make a better, safer life for their families will do anything to achieve that dream. And I know Donald Trump understands this because of this video we found from 15 years ago.”
The partial government shutdown is nearing its fourth week and is poised to be the longest shutdown in American history.
Several federal agencies ran out of funding Dec. 21, and Democrats and Trump could not agree on a new bill that included the money Trump deems necessary to build a physical barrier at the southern border.
Trump has said in the past few weeks that the wall would not be concrete, but would be “beautiful” and made of “artistically designed steel slats,” at the request of Democrats. He also said that this would be more effective in allowing law enforcement officials at the border to see what was on the other side.
Democratic leaders oppose any proposal that includes any funding for a border wall, while Trump says he won’t sign a bill lacking his requested $5.7 billion for the project.
