Nancy Pelosi Corners Trump For Admitting He ‘Didn’t Need’ To Declare Emergency: ‘It’s a #FakeTrumpEmergency’
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi seized on President Trump admitting during his Friday Rose Garden press conference that he “didn’t need” to declare a national emergency in order to obtain additional funding for a border wall that he says is needed to combat a crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
After declaring the national emergency Friday morning, the president conceded that he was only doing this because Congress gave him $1.375 billion for border security in the latest spending bill, and he wanted more. He also indicated that this was about the upcoming presidential election.
“But on the wall they skimped,” Trump declared. “So I was successful in that sense but I want to do it faster. I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn’t need to do this but I would rather do it much faster. I don’t have to do it for the election. I’ve already done a lot of wall for the election in 2020.”
Following the president’s remarks, Pelosi took to Twitter to fire back, calling out the president for admitting that this wasn’t an actual emergency rather than a way to subvert Congressional authority on spending.
He admits it's a #FakeTrumpEmergency. Hear him say it: "I *didn’t need* to do this, but I’d rather do it much faster." pic.twitter.com/e92ArhFQB7
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) February 15, 2019
“He admits it’s a #FakeTrumpEmergency,” she tweeted. “Hear him say it: ‘I *didn’t need* to do this, but I’d rather do it much faster.'”
Immediately, the hashtag #FakeTrumpEmergency began trending as other prominent Democrats and progressives tweeted it out. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked: “[H]ow can this possibly be an national emergency if you’re saying you don’t need to do it?”
“I didn’t need to do this, but I’d rather to do it much faster.” —President @realDonaldTrump
Mr. President, how can this possibly be an national emergency if you’re saying you don’t need to do it?
Unreal. #FakeTrumpEmergency
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 15, 2019
Watch the clip above, via Fox News.
