Fox News’ Brit Hume says it appears as though President Trump is “in the process of blowing up” his conservative base.
The network’s senior political analyst lamented recent decisions by the commander in chief by sharing an op-ed titled “Trump forgets his base is populists and conservatives” on Monday. He, along with The Washington Examiner’s Salena Zito, warn that Mr. Trump is “abandoning the Reaganite conservative part of his coalition” on foreign policy.
“Republicans, of course, cannot win without populists,” Ms. Zito wrote Sunday. “Trump understood that before anyone in the party hierarchy. But Trump cannot win without conservative Republicans — and the last month casts doubt on whether Trump understands that.”
“The departure of Gen. Jim Mattis from the administration is not just a vacancy in the Cabinet,” she continued. “Coupled with United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s exit, this has Republicans, even those who have steadfastly stuck with the president, worried that there is a vacancy in the coalition bargain.”
And he’s in the process of blowing up the conservative part of it. I wonder if he understands. Smart piece from @SalenaZito. https://t.co/kjrEC6UQ09
— Brit Hume (@brithume) December 24, 2018
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump bucks ‘lousy’ Fox News polls: ‘I have greatest base in history’
Absent from the piece, however, was any mention of Mr. Trump’s hard-line stance on border security and its effect on the Republican’s base.
The government shutdown — now in its third day — began due to the president’s demand for a spending bill with $5.7 billion for border security. Building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico was a promise Mr. Trump made on the 2016 campaign trail.
“At some point the Democrats not wanting to make a deal will cost our Country more money than the Border Wall we are all talking about. Crazy!” Mr. Trump tweeted Monday from the White House. “I am in the Oval Office & just gave out a 115-mile long contract for another large section of the Wall in Texas. We are already building and renovating many miles of Wall, some complete. Democrats must end Shutdown and finish funding. Billions of Dollars, & lives, will be saved!”
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