Sherrod Brown: Trump’s Border Wall Is ‘Ludicrous’

CHUCK TODD: All right. And let me ask finally about this idea, is the Democratic Party a big tent party? You ran, for instance, on tougher border security in 2006. You voted for the Secure Fence Act. In these days, can you be a Democrat in good standing and take a tougher line on immigration? Or will the base of the Democratic Party throw you out?

SEN. SHERROD BROWN: No. Base of Democratic Party's not throwing me out. I fight for all the things, the values that this country stood for for decades. I think the border wall is ludicrous. I stand for a strong immigration policy because I want to see us bipartisanly do what we tried to do a few years ago even with President Bush and later with President Obama.

I want to work with Senator Rubio in Florida, I want to work with others. I listened to what Governor Kasich said. It's terrible when we take people—when we are taking immigrants who have been here ten or 15 years and working hard, paying their taxes, active in their church, active in the communities, parents, and we throw them out of this country. Governor Kasich's dead right on that. We have no business doing that. That inhumane policy coming from administration is just part and parcel of what he's been for the last seven months.

CHUCK TODD: But very quickly, what's the difference between you supporting a fence and the president's call for a wall?

SEN. SHERROD BROWN: No. There was money for security and they had some language in there as many people in both parties voted for. But not to spend tens of billions of dollars to build a wall. I've never supported that. I've spoken out against that from the day that Candidate Trump proposed it. And you know that, Chuck.

CHUCK TODD: All right, Senator Brown, I'm going to leave it there. Thanks for coming on this morning. I appreciate it.

SEN. SHERROD BROWN: Of course. Thank you.