In these truly hellish times targeting undocumented immigrants, Latinos, black people, Muslims, women, sick Americans, LGBT Americans, vets, hungry kids and seniors, and just about all other folks not wealthy white conservative men, there are few greater pleasures than watching one of Donald Trump’s racist, expensive, and just plain stupid signature campaign promises continue to flop:
The construction of a wall along the southern U.S. border is President Donald Trump’s most visible campaign promise. But as the astounding $1 billion-per-every-62 miles price tag of Trump’s vision buts up against the reality that the Mexican government will not defray construction costs, it’s increasingly becoming evident that Americans do not want it.
A majority of Americans oppose funding Trump’s wall, according to a poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released Thursday. The poll — which drew from a sample of 1,100 adults representative of the U.S. population between March 23 and 27— found that 58 percent oppose new spending on the wall, with nearly half saying that they “strongly oppose funding for the project.” The results were largely partisan, with 86 percent of self-identified Democrats and 57 percent of independents against new spending for the border wall. “Republicans break about 2–1 in favor of the wall, but that’s more narrow support than on other priorities,” the Associated Press reported.
The poll result comes at a time when Trump has requested $1.4 billion to fund the construction of a border wall, part of a $30 billion package for defense spending. Some congressional lawmakers expect the final cost estimate for the wall could be more than $20 billion.
Of course, that funding has hit a slight snag, with congressional Republicans weighing separating cash for the wall from the government’s funding bill in order to avoid the shutdown that congressional Democrats have threatened (and should follow through with if it comes down to that). And we’re only facing that prospect because Mexico already said they are not paying for the f*cking thing.
Then there’s DHS Secretary John Kelly admitting earlier this week that Trump’s fantasy of a wall stretching along the entirety of the U.S./Mexico border is about as real as a Trump University diploma:
“It’s unlikely that we will build a wall or physical barrier from sea to shining sea,” Kelly said before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday. “But… I’m committed to putting it where the men and women say we should put it.” [...]
The border wall has been unpopular among Americans, particularly with those living in border states. A Pew Research Center American Trends poll taken between November 29 and December 12, 2016 found that 59 percent of Americans didn’t think that the construction of a border wall was important. A Quinnipiac University poll taken between November 17 and November 20, 2016 similarly found 55 percent of Americans opposed to building a wall.
It’s only a matter of time before Trump tries to convince us that he never wanted to build a wall to begin with.