Impeached president Donald Trump is in no way done finding new ways to make his monument to racism at the southern border an even bigger waste to the U.S. taxpayer: “U.S. Customs and Border Protection has asked contractors for help making President Trump’s border wall more difficult to climb over and cut through,” The Washington Post reports, “an acknowledgment that the design currently being installed across hundreds of miles of the U.S.-Mexico boundary remains vulnerable.”
That “remains vulnerable” wording is kindly saving an impeached president who has publicly declared his damned border fencing “virtually impenetrable” a lot of embarrassment, considering folks have already cut through the $18 billion monstrosity with $100 saws available at your local stores. The Trump administration’s response to this Ace Hardware breach is to now reportedly order even more wasteful spending—and also at your expense.
Another report from The Washington Post just last month said Trump had been nagging his officials to paint the fencing black, “insisting that the dark color will enhance its forbidding appearance and leave the steel too hot to touch during summer months.” Some in his administration had apparently been pushing back on the idea, essentially trying to tell him it was fucking pointless and a huge waste of money. On those counts, they’re right: a government estimate obtained by The Post estimated the costs could range from a “low-end” of $500 million, to as much as $3 billion.
Sure, working families struggling amid the novel coronavirus pandemic have been expected to pay for rent, bills, and food on one lousy $1,200 check distributed months ago (with many others getting any relief at all despite paying taxes), but why should the notorious cheapskate president give one shit when it’s not his money he’s spending? And, not only has wall construction continued amid the struggles of families, he’s also bunkering down behind an ever-expanding wall around the White House that Mexico also isn’t paying for either.
“Trump’s border wall encapsulates why he is such a weak and divisive leader,” immigrant rights advocacy group leader Frank Sharry said. “He has raided appropriated funds in a constitutionally dubious maneuver, with the complicity of Senate Republicans and the Supreme Court. He has raided funds from the National Guard, FEMA and military families. He has handed out contracts to cronies who use campaign donations and Fox News appearances to grease the skids. He dehumanizes immigrants to excite white grievance voters.”
Being racist is his only strategy, particularly when faced with being forced to do his fucking job. America’s Voice noted that Trump will now be heading to a taxpayer-funded visit to his precious fencing, because in the middle of a pandemic and the ongoing state-sanctioned murders of Black people, apparently that’s what matters right now. “Next week, he heads to Arizona to tout the building of a border wall that is unpopular, costly and ineffective,” Sharry continued. “We doubt he’ll highlight its failings. A project that costs an estimated $18 billion is easily climbed over with dime-store rope ladders and easily cut through with saws available at Home Depot.”