Radio Sputnik discussed the border wall dispute with Jim Hoft, writer, speaker and the founder of the Gateway Pundit website.
READ MORE: Trump Notices Wall Around Obama's DC Home, Says US Needs the Same But Larger
Sputnik: In your view, how likely is President Trump to declare a national emergency over the border wall crisis?
Jim Hoft: That is a great question. It surprised quite a few of us that [he] would do this during his national address and leave the opposition party, the Democrats in America, that is what they were expecting. So instead President Trump delivered a very reasoned, very educated, very appropriate address on the crisis at our southern border, which is really out of control and everyone knows this. We see the videos daily of people just storming over the border and pregnant women jumping over the fence to have a baby in the United States. So it is completely out of control and he wanted to be honest, you know, about the situation. Unfortunately, it has become a political football and the Democrat party just does not want to budge on protecting this country.
Jim Hoft: I think it would definitely help him. It is still a dilemma [as far as the courts], if President Trump does do this you can be assured that some liberal justice somewhere from California or Hawaii will block the President's actions. But if he does do this, which he should be able to do if you just look at the amount of drugs coming into America, if you look at the amount of, you know, unwanted people who have a criminal record, who come in this country, it is really out of control. I think most Americans would support him if he made that decision.
Sputnik: How would a declaration of national emergency affect Americans and eventually, President Trump's ratings?
Jim Hoft: I think Trump at this point, because he ran on, you know, "building a wall" on the southern border, he absolutely needs to have it done [or] he is going to lose the support from his base if he fails on this and if he caves in to the Democrats or to the liberal media. So I think it is very important that he does this and I think most Americans would support him again. We, as you know, being from Sputnik News, we got a lot of fake news here in the United States and you know that surprises the global community because then we have the people who actually support Trump and yet the media makes it sound like Trump is standing alone. I am in Middle America out in St. Louis, Missouri, right in the middle of the country and the people here support this president in huge margins. So I think it will help the President if he is able to get this project underway.
READ MORE: Trump: US Needs Wall on Border to Stop Drugs, Human Trafficking, Gang Members
Sputnik: How significant is the border wall dispute for President Trump and his base? Does he enjoy a lot of support in this?
Jim Hoft: We had a rally in St. Louis last weekend. We threw it together in about 48 hours and we had several hundred people show up to support this president and to support his wall, his move to build a wall. I think his ratings will skyrocket if he is able to get this accomplished. It is something that is needed in this country. This isn't something immoral, like the Democrats are trying to argue. We know that several countries have border walls and several countries protect their citizens. And I think America is ready for that to happen here in the United States.
The views and opinions expressed by the speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
