As the government enters day seven of a partial shutdown, blame is being passed back and forth between President Donald Trump and the Democrats, who have both cited each other as the reason why a solution cannot be found. For White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, CBS News reported, the problem isn’t a willingness to negotiate but a lack of Democrats coming to the table.
During the early morning hours of Friday, December 28, Sanders appeared on CBS This Morning , where she claimed that President Trump was “willing to negotiate” with Democrats on the $5 billion he requested to fund building his 2016 presidential campaign-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. She did not, however, provide any specifics as to what the president might be willing to agree to.
The problem, Sanders alleged, was with members of the Democratic party that have “left the table altogether.”
Sanders claimed Democrats are not willing to do “anything” to try to find a compromise to end the partial government shutdown that is now expected to continue into the New Year, and accused them of caring more about illegal immigrants and keeping the border open rather than their own American citizens and keeping their own government open.
“It’s a very sad day when we can’t get Democrats to even show up for work and sit down with us and have these conversations and try to help make real solutions and get something done,” she explained.
President Trump is “willing to negotiate” on border wall, @PressSec Sarah Sanders says. Sanders would not offer details on what the president might be willing to agree to https://t.co/AWRmd6ToO2 pic.twitter.com/M9oXg4wwMg
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) December 28, 2018
While roughly 800,000 federal workers are not receiving compensation, with one even telling CBS This Morning they are living “paycheck to paycheck,” Sanders assured that “nobody wants anybody to struggle.”
The White House Press Secretary went even further with her blame, naming Nancy Pelosi as a major figure behind the continued government shutdown as she is unwilling to do what is “necessary” to protect the border from the illegal drugs, human trafficking, and gangs that come across it because she wants to “protect her speakership.”
Both Sarah Sanders and Mick Mulvaney telling reporters that the continuing shutdown is on Nancy Pelosi as she sures up votes for Speaker of the House.
— Allie Malloy (@AlliemalCNN) December 28, 2018
Upon being asked to address the second death of a migrant child in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody, Sanders called it a “terrible tragedy” and explained that it was a prime example of why politicians needed to secure the border and promote migrants entering the country using the legal process rather than attempting the illegal “treacherous journey.”
“That’s why we have to close up the loopholes, that’s why we have to fix our broken immigration system, and that’s why Democrats need to sit down and help us,” she explained.
