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A Republican senator pushed back on former President Donald Trump calling a potential deal on border security a "betrayal."
"If we don't try to do something when we have the moment to do something, all of those swing voters in swing states for whom the border is the number one priority have every right to look at and say to us: 'You blew your opportunity. We were ready to give you a shot and you blew it,'" Kevin Cramer told CNN on Tuesday.
Republican senators have been involved in negotiations with the Biden administration and Democrats over a deal on border security, but it could face serious opposition from Republicans in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson said the deal would be "dead on arrival" in the House, while Trump told supporters in Las Vegas on January 27 that there is "zero chance I will support this horrible open borders betrayal of America."
Asked if Trump's characterization of the deal as a betrayal was correct, Cramer responded "not at all."
Newsweek has reached out to a Trump spokesperson via email for comment.
The situation has led to concerns over comments that some Republicans are wary of potentially blunting one of Trump's key attack lines—the issue of border security—in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
Punchbowl News quoted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as saying congressional party members didn't "want to do anything to undermine" Trump.
Senator Mitt Romney, a vocal critic of Trump, told CNN last week it would be "appalling" for GOP senators to back out of a potential deal to protect Trump but said he was later reassured that McConnell "is not going to let political considerations of any campaign stand in the way of his support."
Punchbowl also reported McConnell as saying he is "fully engaged in both the border and getting Ukraine and Israel [funding] together on this."
Newsweek has reached out to McConnell's office via email for comment.
Fellow Republican James Lankford, meanwhile, told reporters the comment was meant to acknowledge "elephant in the room."
Essentially, he was urging his colleagues to legislate on the border but also acknowledge a "reality" in which the border will be a key issue of Trump's campaign.
'Perfect' border deal
Trump said on his Truth Social that he does not think anything but the "perfect" border deal was viable.
"I do not think we should do a Border Deal, at all, unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION of Millions & Millions of people, many from parts unknown, into our once great, but soon to be great again, Country!" he wrote.
"Also, I have no doubt that our wonderful Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, will only make a deal that is PERFECT ON THE BORDER."
On January 30, Johnson told reporters it was "absurd" to suggest that House Republicans were ready to spike a potential deal to keep the issue unresolved and therefore potentially more effective ammunition for Trump in his campaign.
"We have a responsibility here to do our duty," he said. "Our duty is to do right by the American people, to protect the American people."
President Joe Biden has urged Congress to agree on a deal.
"What's been negotiated would—if passed into law—be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we've ever had in our country," he said in a statement on January 26.
Biden added that the bill would give him "new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed."
Update 1/31/24, 10:29 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.
About the writer
Benjamin Lynch is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is U.S. politics and national affairs and he ... Read more