Pollster Emily Ekins said in an interview aired Thursday on “What America’s Thinking” that Democrats were more supportive of the idea of a border wall when it was labeled as border security.
“A couple of years ago, this issue was framed around security, border security,” Ekins, polling director at the Cato Institute, told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha on Wednesday.
“Lots of analysts are doubtful that a border wall actually really enhances security that much, but again, at least it was framed in those terms,” she continued.
“When it was framed that way, Democrats were far more in support of a wall,” she said.
Ekins’s comments come as neither Democrats nor Republicans are conceding on the issue of the border wall on the 13th day of the government shutdown.
President Trump has said he will not support a government funding deal without $5 billion in funding for his proposed border wall, while Democrats said they will not give the president his desired funding.
But Democrats have supported funding for physical barriers along the border in the past.
Democrats and Republicans supported the Secure Fence Act in 2006, which required the construction of 700 miles of physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.
— Julia Manchester
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