Lara Trump to federal workers not getting paid: ‘This is so much bigger than any one person’

Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and campaign adviser, said in an interview this week that the ongoing partial government shutdown “is so much bigger than any one person.” 

Trump made the remarks after BOLD TV host Carrie Sheffield asked her “in terms of the workers who are coming to work and not getting paid, what would you say to them?”

“Listen this is, it’s not fair to you and we all get that, but this is so much bigger than any one person,” Trump responded.

{mosads}“It is a little bit of pain but it’s going to be for the future of our country, and their children and their grandchildren and generations after them will thank them for their sacrifice,” she said. “Right now, I know it’s hard. I know people have families, they have bills to pay, they have mortgages, they have rents that are due.”

“But the president is trying every single day to come up with a good solution here,” she said, “and the reality is, it’s been something that’s gone on for too long and been unaddressed, our immigration problem. If we do nothing right now it’s never going to get fixed.”

The shutdown began on Dec. 22 after President Trump rejected a Senate measure to keep the government open temporarily that did not include funding for his wall. Trump is demanding $5.7 billion in funding for his proposed wall on the Mexican border.

The House then approved a bill that also temporarily funded the government and included $5.7 billion in money for the wall and border security. That legislation was blocked in the Senate.

Since then, Republicans have handed the House majority to Democrats, who have demanded that Trump open the government. 

Lara Trump described the shutdown as an opportunity to win funds for the border wall and urged federal workers to “stay strong.” 

“This is our one opportunity,” Trump added. “So, I would just tell them please stay strong. We appreciate everything that you’re sacrificing. We are behind you and we’re gonna do everything we can. I know the president is doing everything he can to resolve this quickly.”

President Trump has frequently said he hears from workers who support his demands for the wall, but there is no evidence that would suggest a majority of federal workers back him.

Public opinion polls show a more people blame Trump for the shutdown than Democrats.

Around 800,000 federal workers have either been furloughed as a result of the ongoing shutdown, which is now in its 33rd day, or are working without pay.