Trump hides behind a wall in Washington D.C. while he diverts public funds to build a campaign prop on the border
Nick Miroff’s story in the Washington Post carries the headline “People are sawing through and climbing over Trump’s border wall. Now contractors are being asked for ideas to make it less vulnerable.”
According to Miroff:
The new request for information notice that CBP posted gives federal contractors until June 12 to suggest new anti-breaching and anti-climbing technology and tools…
…The public notice is the first indication CBP officials do not think the steel bollard design they selected from prototypes in 2017 is sufficiently formidable to achieve that goal. The primary design, consisting of 30-foot-tall steel bollards topped with flat metal anti-climb panels, is now being installed by private contractors at multiple locations along the border.
Miroff also highlights that next week – during multiple ongoing national crises – President Trump is planning a trip to Yuma, Arizona to celebrate his border wall. The event will mark the “completion of the barrier’s 200th mile, according to officials who were not authorized to describe the plans.”
The following is a statement from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice.
It’s wall-to-wall madness. From hiding behind expanded barriers in Washington D.C. to diverting funds to build a campaign prop on the border, Trump is revealing his weakness and cowardice. Amid the pandemic, the economic collapse and police violence, the nation cries out for a unifying leader who can help us as a society to advance the American experiment. Instead, Trump divides, distracts and diverts in service of his one and only focus: reelection.
At a time of crisis, Trump heads to swing states on taxpayer-funded election stops. Next week, he heads to Arizona to tout the building of a border wall that is unpopular, costly and ineffective. We doubt he’ll highlight its failings. A project that costs an estimated $18 billion is easily climbed over with dime store rope ladders and easily cut through with saws available at Home Depot.
Trump’s border wall encapsulates why he is such a weak and divisive leader. He has raided appropriated funds in a constitutionally dubious maneuver, with the complicity of Senate Republicans and the Supreme Court. He has raided funds from the National Guard, FEMA and military families. He has handed out contracts to cronies who use campaign donations and Fox News appearances to grease the skids. He dehumanizes immigrants to excite white grievance voters.
We need to come together across racial and ethnic differences to form a more perfect union. Trump rips us apart along racial and ethnic lines in a cynical and desperate attempt to cling to power. The choice is becoming crystal clear: the American experiment or the Trump dystopia.
