Cotton: Media Bought ‘Hook, Line, and Sinker’ Trump Walked Away from Durbin’s ‘Ridiculous’ Immigration Deal
CHUCK TODD: But you’re — as I was saying to Senator Durbin — it sounds like Democrats are willing to accept everything you’re talking about on a smaller population. Like let’s deal with the DACA and DACA-related population on all of those issues — that’s part one. And then there’s a part two — that you deal with the larger immigration law changes. That seems very reasonable. Why do you find that unreasonable?
SEN. TOM COTTON: So first let me just say that Congress hasn’t gotten part one right for decades. So it’s important that we focus on part one. But second, the proposal that Senator Durbin and Senator Graham put forward doesn’t do any of those things. As I said, it doesn’t just give legal protections for the 700,000 persons in the DACA program, but to millions of other people to include the parents who brought those kids here in the first place. Second, on security, no new border construction, only repair of existing construction.
CHUCK TODD: That’s already changed. That’s already changed. Chuck Schumer on Friday gave him full funding for the wall: $18 billion, put it on the table, done. That’s already changed.
SEN. TOM COTTON: Were you in that meeting?
CHUCK TODD: I’m just —
SEN. TOM COTTON: I wasn’t in the meeting either.
CHUCK TODD: Ok.
SEN. TOM COTTON: It’s hard for the president to negotiate, it’s hard for the president or for Senate Republicans to negotiate when the Democrats sitting across the table don’t get what they want, they run out and they misrepresent what was a good faith effort to listen and to build trust. To claim that some ridiculous deal was made and then claim that the president walked away from that deal, and the media buys it hook, line and sinker. The president and the Senate Republicans engaged on this issue have been consistent since September when the president ended President Obama’s unlawful program. The problem we have is for four and half months, the Democrats have not been negotiating over these very real and very honest concerns.
