Ron Johnson Claims Failed Border Bill Was a “Political Trap” for Schumer

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) claimed that the failed U.S.-Mexico border bill, which was killed again in the Senate this week, was a “political trap” for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.N.Y. .Y.), in comments that aired on Sunday.

Johnson criticized Schumer for bringing the border bill back up for a vote, saying Democrats are trying to “gain political cover” on current developments at the southern border and that the Senate majority leader is “disingenuous” in his negotiations on this issue. question.

“We just had to witness another charade – a political maneuver – on the part of Chuck Schumer as they try to get political cover for their open border policies, which is a catastrophe and a clear and present danger to America,” Johnson said. in an interview with radio talk show host John Catsimatidis on WABC 770 AM’s “Cats Roundtable.”

“So he brought back the bill that failed […] in February,” Johnson continued. “Just to prove how disingenuous he is, after the bill failed last time, Chuck Schumer [said] … ‘We’re playing chess. They are playing checkers. And we received our bill from Ukraine. And we are in much better shape at the border than we were three months ago.”

Johnson also claimed that the negotiations were not done in “good faith” by Schumer.

“If you are negotiating in good faith […] if these negotiations fail, you will rub your negotiating partner’s nose in the failure the same way Chuck Schumer was rubbing McConnell’s nose [in it]? … No. So these were not good faith negotiations.”

The upper chamber voted against the bipartisan border legislation again on Thursday with a vote of 43 to 50. The bill, which was negotiated for months by Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), was already expected to fail. This time, fewer members supported the legislation than last time, as it was overturned with a 49-50 vote in February.

Lankford, who was the lead negotiator on the Republican side, said the legislation was “supportive” before voting against it on Thursday. Schumer has repeatedly mentioned in recent weeks that he wanted to put the border bill on the ballot to try to emphasize that former President Trump and his supporters shut down the legislation for political purposes and that Democrats want to take the initiative on this issue.

Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, told Catsimatidis that Biden, who has been criticized by Republicans for his administration’s handling of the issue, will not “secure” the U.S.-Mexico border and that the president has a “better” position. on the issue now, as he “political coverage”.

“Secondly, if he really wants to secure the border, how can he make that last statement,” Johnson said. “Are Democrats better off at the border than they were three months ago? [Their bill] did not pass! Biden will not secure the border. The only reason he’s in better shape is that he got the political cover he was looking for. And that’s all he’s doing here – he’s trying to reinforce the political cover that, unfortunately, these negotiations have given him.”

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story