Watch: CNN's Chris Cuomo Does Not Look Happy When Sen. Joe Manchin Says 'We Need a Wall'
Democrat Senator Joe Manchin thinks there is a dire need for increased border security to deal with illegal immigration, and said President Donald Trump is sympathetic to dealing with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients.
“We have to have border security,” the West Virginia Democrat said Wednesday on CNN’s “New Day.”
“We know that. So if the president calls it a border wall, we do need a wall. We need to repair some wall. We need build some new wall. We need other technologies too.”
Host Chris Cuomo said it would be a hard pill for Democrats to swallow because Trump would rub it in their face, but Manchin shrugged it off and said it doesn’t matter so long as it gets done.
“It’s messaging because you Democrats are going to have to swallow him rubbing your face in it and saying ‘I got the wall you lost.’ It matters politically,” Cuomo said.
“We need to get past this,” Manchin said. “The rhetoric is what it is. The president is going to say what he’s going to say. That doesn’t upset me as long as we have a final product and a pathway forward.”
“We have a hard deadline. March 5 these kids start moving out technically if we don’t do something. Feb. 8th the government shuts down again if we don’t have a deal. There’s no time to waste here.”
The West Virginia Democrat, who is up for re-election in November, said he believes Trump is sympathetic to DACA recipients and is confident a deal can get done.
“I met with (Trump) two days ago, sat in his office. Myself and Doug Jones sat with the president. I can tell you he believes these children need a pathway forward,” Manchin continued.
“There might be people around him that aren’t quite as sympathetic as he is,” he added.
“My gut tells me the president wants to get this done. I’m willing to continue to keep working with him in a bipartisan way, be an honest broker, tell him what I think will work and won’t work.”
Trump, for his part, has indicated that a deal on DACA must include funding for a border wall.
“(I)f there is no Wall, there is no DACA. We must have safety and security, together with a strong Military, for our great people!” the president tweeted Tuesday night.
In another tweet posted last week, Trump expressed similar sentiments, noting that the U.S. “must have” both border security and wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We must have Security at our VERY DANGEROUS SOUTHERN BORDER, and we must have a great WALL to help protect us, and to help stop the massive inflow of drugs pouring into our country!” Trump wrote.
A version of this article appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation‘s website.
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