«Jim, I’m not negotiating with you.»
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders held a briefing, and most of the questions were directed toward an event that happened just prior.
President Donald Trump invited the press into a bipartisan meeting at the White House between nearly two dozen members of Congress to discuss a solution to immigration.
The meeting was made public to the press for nearly 45 minutes, which is something we’ve never seen before. They discussed the border wall being a requirement in order to make a deal on extending legal status for undocumented immigrants brought to the U. S. as children.
CNN’s Jim Acosta then asked about this deal in the press briefing. He asked if the “wall has to be part of a deal in order for these Dreamers to have protection,” and Sanders confirmed that border security “has to be part of the process.”
Acosta then began to battle her on what border security meant, arguing that there was a difference between border security and a wall.
Things got heated as Sanders jumped in, saying, “the safety and security of the people of this country are the president’s No. 1 responsibility and his No. 1 priority when it comes to anything that he does.”
Again, Acosta jumped in, saying: “You understand how a wall could be different from border security, Sarah? Border security could mean drones, it could mean agents, it could mean more fencing, it doesn’t necessarily mean a physical wall.”
“And that’s part of the negotiation that we expect Congress to have,” Sanders responded.
“You understand Democrats are saying they may not be in favor of this kind of deal?” Acosta asked.
«If Democrats aren’t in favor of protecting American citizens, I think we have hit a sad day in American history. But I don’t believe that to be the case. Because as many of them say as they sat around the table when several of you were in the room, they are committed to border security, the do want it, and most of them voted for it previously before this legislation hit the floor….
Jim, I’m not negotiating with you. I’ll let Congress take care of it.»
Credit: Giphy
