Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is arguing that Democrats care more about winning elections than passing legislation and helping children of illegal immigrants.
“Democrats don’t want to deal with the president because they want to use it as an issue going into the 2018 midterms and the president is right to point it out,” McDaniel said during an interview on Fox News Friday.
“It’s an absolute lie on behalf of Democrat leadership they care about the DACA recipients more than they care about this next election,” she said just moments after President Trump threatened to veto an omnibus spending bill.
With less than 24 hours to go before another government shutdown, Trump tweeted a threat to veto the $1.3 trillion spending bill if it doesn’t include the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program language he wants and funding for the border wall.
The DACA program, which was created under former President Barack Obama’s administration, granted legal protection to the children of illegal immigration to stay in the United States. Under Trump, the program was set to expire on March 5, yet has temporarily remained in place after multiple states sued the administration.
While Congress is working toward a solution for the program, the White House proposed a plan to allow 800,000 recipients a pathway to citizenship if funding is included for a wall along the southern border, a bedrock of Trump’s presidential campaign.
The RNC chairwoman defended the president’s harsh words, saying he has “every right” as commander in chief to point out to the American people what Democratic leadership is doing with the spending bill.
“Guess what, Democrats led on this. They said they want to take care of the DACA recipients and [Trump’s] put a deal on the table and they’re refusing it because they care more about looks than the people they claim to represent. The president is being reasonable,” she argued.
The federal government will partially shut down if the spending bill is not signed before midnight Friday.
