President Donald Trump's tweet calling on Republicans to "stop wasting time" on immigration legislation "takes the wind out of the sails" for lawmakers seeking a compromise measure, Rep. Mark Sanford said Friday.
"Game over," the South Carolina Republican told CNN's "New Day." "It takes the wind out of the sails in what might have been a fairly productive week in terms of looking for a compromise. I don't know how it happens."
Sanford, a frequent Trump critic, also commented on his recent primary election defeat and comments that have been made about him by the president.
"He's certainly a forceful personality, but the founding fathers designed systems to guard against forces of personality," said Sanford. "They designed three separate but co-equal branches. I think in some ways the legislative branch of late has been too subservient to the executive branch. I think that that's a mistake."
He also said he does not regret speaking out against Trump, even if it cost him his re-election..
"I think if you're going to be true to yourself and true to the promises you made when you ran for office, true to your constituents, true to the philosophy that may have brought you to Congress, you've got to speak out on those things, not just after an election but before."
The issue of immigration — particularly when it comes to separating parents from their children at the border — has remained a highly contentious one, added Sanford, but without Trump being out in front of it, "there's no way they'll take the risk that would be inherent in a major reform bill."
Sanford said he believes part of Trump's decision is because it's been "well demonstrated that he's got a short attention span and quickly moves on to the next item."
But this time, if Trump isn't standing behind Congressional efforts, "if he's not going to back whatever compromise might be found, they're not going to take the political risk to move forward," said Sanford.
He said he also thinks Trump made his call because even had a compromise bill come out of the House, it would likely die in the Senate.
However, Sanford said he does think it's a mistake to keep the emotional issue at the forefront through the election season.
"The fact is you have a Republican White House, House, and Senate,:" said Sanford. "It may disappear in November. If so, it becomes that much more complicated to do that which he's talked about with regard to border security, a wall and more."
Without comprehensive legislation being passed, one could hope that maybe Congress could go for single actions, said Sanford, pointing out that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, both have proposed bills that could be taken up in the absence of a larger bill.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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