Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told his House colleagues that an unelected power broker is “actively obstructing a bipartisan border deal” and asserted that instead of “working in good faith, bipartisan negotiations to make progress” House GOP members are sabotaging progress.
The outsize influencer Raskin references is current GOP presidential frontrunner and former President Donald Trump, whom Raskin says his Republican colleagues are “taking orders from.” Trump, Raskin said, wants “chaos at the border” that will presumably damage the political fortunes of his rival President Joe Biden.
The Maryland congressman likens it to Trump’s recent statement that he “hoped” the American economy would crash in the “next 12 months.”
Rep. Raskin: Republicans are taking orders from Donald Trump and actively obstructing a deal on immigration and the border. Just like how Trump is openly hoping for an economic crash. They want chaos pic.twitter.com/ZPVRtc6pKd
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) January 17, 2024
Is Trump really dictating how Republicans negotiate? House Speaker Mike Johnson, addressing how Trump “urged” Johnson to be against the current deal and “was extremely adamant” about it, credits Trump’s influence, saying he speaks with the former President about the border deal frequently.
“He and I have been talking about this,” Johnson says of Trump’s role in enncouraging his resistance.
The Senate supplemental bill on the border is attached to releasing Israel and Ukraine aid and has bipartisan leadership support in the Senate, including that of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Mike Johnson admits he is receiving orders from Trump on whether to sabotage a border deal for political purposes pic.twitter.com/mZpQGBJv8t
— DNC War Room (@DNCWarRoom) January 18, 2024
Republicans in the House are pitching U.S. Southern border security as priority equal to global security supported by Ukraine and Israel aid, driving their point home rhetorically by calling migration at the border an “invasion.”
