In a blatant attempt to pin blame on Democrats for the government shutdown, President Donald Trump on Saturday fired off a tweet calling on Americans to call Democrats in Congress and tell them to reach an agreement with the White House on border security.
As the partial government shutdown became the longest in U.S. history, Trump continued to cast the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border as a “humanitarian crisis,” asserting on Twitter that Democrats could help solve the funding impasse in “15 minutes” by agreeing to his demand for more than $5 billion in funding to build a border wall.
“Democrats could solve the Shutdown in 15 minutes! Call your Dem Senator or Congresswoman/man. Tell them to get it done! Humanitarian Crisis,” Trump tweeted.
The shutdown, which is affecting about 25 percent of the federal government, entered its 22nd day on Saturday, making it the longest shutdown in the nation’s history.
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been affected by the latest funding lapse, with workers on Friday missing their first paychecks due to the shutdown.
In a meeting last week, Trump told Democrats that he was willing to keep the government closed for months or even “years” until Democrats relented on his demands, which Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has said will not happen.
Trump has also threatened to circumvent Congress and declare a national emergency over the issue, allowing him to allocate funding to the project at will.
Read Trump’s latest tweet and some of the responses below.
Democrats could solve the Shutdown in 15 minutes! Call your Dem Senator or Congresswoman/man. Tell them to get it done! Humanitarian Crisis.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2019
Twitter users were not amused:
Trump could solve the shutdown in 1 second!
It's called "stop being a prick!"— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) January 12, 2019
YOU can solve the Shutdown in 2 second!
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) January 12, 2019
(2/4) Donald Trump and Republicans need to stop lying to the American people. Democrats don’t want open borders, terrorists are not crossing the southern border and we have a barrier in place already. We need more monitoring security and personnel, not a wall
— ♻️🇺🇸 Christopher Zullo (@ChrisJZullo) January 12, 2019
I'm calling to ask them to #ImpeachTheMF
— Walken23 (@Walken23) January 12, 2019
The only humanitarian crisis is your adamant unwillingness to open the government, resulting in thousands of U.S. public servants not getting paid.
— Bruce Martin (@unlikebeejay) January 12, 2019
Called my Republican Senator and told them to override your veto.
— Ash McGonigal (@AshMcGonigal) January 12, 2019
Damn. One can only imagine the scene at the White House right now: yelling, screaming, foot-stomping, throwing things, threatening to fire everyone…rage like never before. A cornered rat lashing out… #Trump
— Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) January 12, 2019
You’re just trying to distract from your treason.
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) January 12, 2019
— 🔥Invoke the 25th Amendment! (@nelsonwendella) January 12, 2019
Don’t let this manufactured crisis distract you from the breaking news that Trump is being investigated for actually working for Russia and against American interests.
— Wayne Perala (@smartplay31) January 12, 2019
I have lived in Arizona for 40 years and still haven’t seen a caravan. When are they going to arrive, so I can welcome them?
— Qobama (@Qobama4) January 12, 2019
Probably the best thing about your presidency is that it's like a constant civics lesson.
For example, I never knew that you could impeach somebody in just 15 minutes.
I'm calling my Representatives right now.
— Kevinly Father 🇺🇸 🇸🇿 🇨🇦 🇲🇼 (@KevinlyFather) January 12, 2019
You could solve this problem now!
OPEN THE GOVERNMENT BACK UP!
This is your shutdown!pic.twitter.com/WlzMtTxoSv
— Ryan Hill (@RyanHillMI) January 12, 2019
You can post your response in the comments section below.
