House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday theorized that if President Trump can declare a national emergency in order to bypass Congress to fund a border wall, there’s no reason that a Democratic president in the future can’t employ the same measure to deal with gun violence in the country.
Pelosi made the remarks during a press conference in the Capitol Thursday – the anniversary of the Parkland massacre in Florida that left 17 people dead.
“Let’s talk about today: The one-year anniversary of another manifestation of the epidemic of gun violence in America,” Pelosi said. “That’s a national emergency. Why don’t you declare that emergency, Mr. President? I wish you would. “But a Democratic president can do that.”
Pelosi reportedly said she was not calling for Democrats to declare a national emergency.
A source told Fox News late Thursday that Trump will declare a national emergency in order to fund his long-promised border wall that will enable his administration to move $8 billion from various federal agencies to fund the project.
“A Democratic president can declare emergencies, as well,” Pelosi said. “So the precedent that the president is setting here is something that should be met with great unease and dismay by the Republicans.”
