Democratic congressman suggests border wall is important to national security only if it helps keep Trump sane

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/CNNPolitics)

published 28 March 2018

President Trump has reportedly floated using a chunk of the Pentagon's $700 billion budget to build his southern border wall after failing to find sufficient funding any other way. His rumored justification? That the situation as it stands now is a "national security risk."

Some lawmakers, though, are skeptical about that reasoning. "It's a national security issue only in that it may be necessary to keep the president psychologically balanced," Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen (Tenn.) said on CNN on Wednesday.

Trump's rumored plan has been widely criticized, with CNN's John Avlon joking on New Day: "We all remember the call-and-response from the campaign: 'Who will pay for the wall?' 'The troops.'" Added Cohen on The Situation Room in the afternoon, Trump "seems to be obsessed with this wall and he may be losing a certain amount of psychological balance, which we need to have in a president." Watch below. Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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