Fox News host Sean Hannity warned congressional Republicans against supporting a tentative border security compromise that would offer far less money for a U.S.-Mexico border wall than what President Trump has demanded.
Just before the start of President Trump’s rally in El Paso, Texas, House and Senate negotiators reached a border security and spending deal “in principle,” which would allocate $1.375 billion to build 55 miles of new border barriers — a dramatic drop from the $5.7 billion for 200 miles of border wall Trump wants.
“That’s not even a wall. A barrier? I’m going to tell this night and we will get back into this tomorrow — any Republican that supports this garbage compromise, you will have to explain,” Hannity said at the tail-end of his program, which was mostly dedicated to airing Trump’s event.
Hannity is well-known to have Trump’s ear and has interviewed the president on a number of occasions.
Trump was asked in an interview with Hannity’s colleague, Laura Ingraham, taped just before the start of the El Paso rally, about the “in principle” deal. The president said he heard of it but didn’t have time to examine it. “I can’t go into the exact deal. I just heard it very quickly coming over to see you. It was between the deal and you and I had to choose you,” he said in the interview that aired on Fox News after the rally concluded.
A stopgap government funding measure, which last month ended a record-breaking 35-day partial government shutdown, is set to expire on Friday.
