Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, accused Democratic congressional leaders of generating a "contrived and phony crisis" in Washington over the partial government shutdown just to "beat" President Donald Trump.
Cornyn told Fox News' "The Daily Briefing," "if this was really about looking to find a solution" to the impasse over border security funding, "it's really there staring us in the face."
"This is an entirely contrived and phony crisis right now, and by that I mean the political here crisis in Washington, where [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi [D-Calif.] and [Senate Minority Leader] Sen. [Charles] Schumer [D-N.Y.] simply want to beat President Trump," Cornyn said.
"They want to deny him what he's asking for, and they want the political benefit among their base for having done so."
According to Cornyn, "whatever happens here will be a negotiated outcome — nobody will get 100 percent of why they want."
"But I think we can improve the security of our southern border, deal with the flow of heroin an other illegal drugs, human trafficking and migrant movement . . . which is creating this crisis at the border. So, this is something we can and should solve."
"It's a matter of political will," he added.
Cornyn said in Texas at least, "the idea of a wall is somewhat off-putting."
"If the president could lay out a package of a system of physical barriers, technology and personnel, I think that would be a winning solution," Cornyn said.
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