Trump slammed after he claims 'US is building a wall in Colorado'
Amid the snowfall, Colorado has witnessed something strange, thanks to President Donald Trump. The president made a startling remark during a speech in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, October 23, saying apart from New Mexico, Trump is also building a wall in Colorado which is not a border state!
"We're building a wall on the border of New Mexico. And we're building a wall in Colorado," Trump said. Colorado is located north of New Mexico and is flanked by American territory on all sides.
The president’s remarks came in the wake of the Senate’s failure last week to overturn the national emergency declaration that Trump has used to pay for the wall on the Mexico border, one of his biggest poll promises of 2016 and a massive booster to his nationalism project. In September, the Pentagon diverted $3.6 billion of military construction funding from over 120 projects -- both domestic and overseas -- for 11 wall projects on the southern border of the US -- a move which has irked several lawmakers across the political spectrum.
Trump announced his national emergency in February after he was unsuccessful in persuading the Congress to appropriate additional funding for the wall. He responded with his first veto after the move was rejected by the Congress which can try to block the declaration every six months. It has though fallen short of overriding Trump’s decree on the matter.
On Wednesday, a poll-bound Trump said the "beautiful wall" in Colorado would be “a big one that really works -- you can’t get over, you can’t get under.”
"We're building a wall in Texas. And we're not building a wall in Kansas, but they get the benefit of the walls that we just mentioned,” the president added.
Colorado governor mocks Trump
The critics soon took on Trump for his view. Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis called the announcement “awkward”. He said in a tweet: “Well this is awkward ...Colorado doesn't border Mexico” and then went on to mock Trump indirectly, to add: “Good thing Colorado now offers free full day kindergarten so our kids can learn basic geography.”
Other politicians also reacted to Trump’s remark.
Senior Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy even went a step ahead to post a map on Twitter that showed the state of New Mexico falling in Mexico with a border wall coming up in Colorado. He even crossed out the word “New” from New Mexico’s name.
Former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper said Trump needed to be reminded that Colorado borders with New Mexico and not Mexico.