US President Donald Trump has recently given a heated speech in Phoenix, Arizona, condemning the press for their coverage of the events in Charlottesville and then lying blatantly to his audience. The speech lasted an agonising 75 minutes, and one of the topics covered was the issue of illegal immigration. This is a big issue in the border state of Arizona, and a big issue in Trump’s election campaign, where he promised to build a wall along the US/Mexico border.
Trump suggested that he would pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted for breaking immigration law on a border patrol.
The President asked the audience, “Do the people in this room like Sheriff Joe?” to which there was uproarious applause. They chanted, “Pardon Joe!” and the guy was even in the crowd. Trump asked, “Was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job? He should have had a jury.” He ‘predicted’ that Sheriff Joe is “going to be just fine.”
Trump then turns his sights to the wall
Then Trump returned to mentioning the wall. He hasn’t mentioned the wall in a while, but it was one of the cornerstones of his election campaign. He threatened that he would shut down the federal government if Congress doesn’t approve funding of the wall’s construction. He called the Democrats “obstructionist” and mentioned that the House has passed a spending bill for its funding and that now it’s in the hands of the Senate.
But Trump said that even if it requires him “to close down our government, we’re building that wall.” He added, “The American people voted for immigration control. We’re going to get that wall.” The crowd cheered and started chanting, “Build that wall!”