Trump claims he never pushed GOP to pass immigration bill, contradicting previous tweet
President Trump on Saturday claimed he never pushed congressional Republicans to pass either of the two immigration bills the House considered in recent days. But only three days earlier, he urged Republicans to pass a GOP compromise bill on immigration in an all-caps tweet.
The Republicans' bill failed Wednesday, with more than 100 Republicans voting against it.
"I never pushed the Republicans in the House to vote for the Immigration Bill, either GOODLATTE 1 or 2, because it could never have gotten enough Democrats as long as there is the 60 vote threshold," Mr. Trump tweeted Saturday, referring to two failed GOP immigration proposals, one more conservative and one more moderate. "I released many prior to the vote knowing we need more Republicans to win in Nov."
The more conservative of the two bills failed to muster enough support in the House last week as well.
But only three days earlier, on Wednesday morning, the president — in an all-caps tweet — wrote that Republicans should vote for what became known as the compromise bill, even if it failed in the Senate.
"HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS THE STRONG BUT FAIR IMMIGRATION BILL, KNOWN AS GOODLATTE II, IN THEIR AFTERNOON VOTE TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THE DEMS WON'T LET IT PASS IN THE SENATE. PASSAGE WILL SHOW THAT WE WANT STRONG BORDERS & SECURITY WHILE THE DEMS WANT OPEN BORDERS = CRIME. WIN!" Mr. Trump tweeted at the time.
Mr. Trump did say last week that Republicans should wait until after November to move forward on immigration, even though he later urged the GOP to vote for the compromise bill.
The path forward for Republicans on immigration is unclear, with no cohesive approach to the matter just a few months out from midterm elections. On Saturday, thousands across the country protested against the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy, which has detained families and separated children from their parents.
