President Trump said Thursday night that he’s “a little torn” whether to force a government shutdown over border security funding before or after the midterm elections.
At a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Mr. Trump said “a lot of great Republicans” in Congress have been urging him to wait until after the November election to threaten a shutdown to secure more funding for his border wall.
“I’m a little torn myself,” Mr. Trump said. “You know who thinks it should be before [the election]? Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity. Great people.”
He added to cheers from the crowd, “We’re either getting it or we’re closing down government. We need border security.”
With heavy sarcasm, Mr. Trump referred to Democrats who oppose his every move in Congress.
“Anything I want, they want to oppose. I just figured out how to do the wall,” Mr. Trump said. “I’ll say I don’t want to build a wall, and they’ll insist on building it.”
The president visited northeast Pennsylvania to campaign for Rep. Lou Barletta, the Republican nominee for Senate who’s running against two-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. Mr. Barletta is a hard-liner on immigration and a favorite of the president.
Mr. Trump called Mr. Casey “boring,” and then hit on a new nickname for the Democrat.
“Sleeping Bob!” Mr. Trump announced to the crowd. “That’s it — Sleeping Bob!”
He said Mr. Casey is “for open borders” and sanctuary cities, and has opposed every one of his proposals to tighten immigration policies.
Mr. Trump said Mr. Barletta is “tough”, adding that he would relish the chance to attend a debate in person between the Republican nominee and Mr. Casey.
“I hear that Bob Casey is afraid to debate Lou Barletta,” Mr. Trump said. “Is the president of the United States allowed to come into the debate forum? Is he allowed to sit in the front row watching Lou Barletta destroy Bob Casey? That will be great entertainment.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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