News / Politics

Trump will lie to Americans during speech: Democratic lawmaker

Tuesday, 08 January 2019 2:21 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 08 January 2019 2:25 PM ]

US Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, arrives at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill December 07, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

Jerrold Nadler, a Democratic lawmaker who leads the Judiciary Committee in the United States House of Representatives, has said that President Donald Trump will lie in an address later today.

Trump is expected "to lie to the American people" during the primetime address on Tuesday about the partial government shutdown and situation at the southern border, Nadler said at a press conference near the border on Monday as quoted by The Hill.

“I expect the president to lie to the American people. Why do I expect this? Because he has been lying to the American people," he noted.

Nadler was joined by other congressional Democrats, including Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.) and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), whose twin brother, Julián, is mulling a presidential bid.

Nadler argued the White House has consistently used inaccurate statistics to bolster its claims about the existence of a crisis at the border.

"The only emergency at the border is a humanitarian emergency," Nadler was quoted as saying.

Nadler said he opposed the prospect of Trump declaring a national emergency to direct the construction of his desired wall along the US-Mexico border.

Democrats are fiercely opposed to the construction of the "Trump wall", seeking court action to support them. Trump might declare a national emergency to push the construction of the border wall.

"The courts should not permit it," he argued. "I do not believe the courts will permit it, and we would certainly oppose any attempt by the president to make himself a king, a tyrant, by saying he can appropriate money without Congress."