GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert: Keep the government shut down 'till hell freezes over'

On Friday, Freedom Caucus member Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said President Trump should let the Democrats keep the government shutdown until "hell freezes over" or they agree to fund the wall.

In an interview on Fox News, Gohmert reminded the audience that the government is not really "shut down" in the way most media headlines suggest.

"We already appropriated 75 percent of the government's funding, so when people talk about a shutdown, it's really only a part of 25 percent, only a part, because the essential workers are the only ones that come," Gohmert said. "Now there's some of us that say, let's make notes of which ones are essential and which ones aren't and then let the nonessential go."

Turning to the question of border security, Gohmert was asked if incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the rest of the Democrats who refuse to fund a border security wall are responsible for the harm that comes to migrants seeking to take advantage of the United States' weak borders.

Gohmert, a former Texas state judge, noted that in American civil law a party can be liable for harm to others for creating an "attractive nuisance." He used the example of a child who wanders into a swimming pool and drowns because there was no fence around it. The owner of the pool would be liable for harm inflicted by his negligence in refusing to put up a fence. Gohmert said Democrats should be liable for the harm that comes to migrants attempting to cross the unsecured American border.

"I don't know that there's going to be an apology, but [Democrats] sure do owe one," Gohmert said.

"Now to them, this is all about politics. 'Gee, if we can just keep a wall from being built, then Trump loses the next election.' Well, he may not, if he stands firm and it's clear they're the ones that are not protecting America," he continued.

Asked how long the government should stay closed, Gohmert again noted it's only partially closed and said it should remain so "'till hell freezes over."

"Because we owe it to our country, and the best thing we can do compassionately for Mexico, for Central America, is not give them money that ends up in the hands of the drug cartels; it's to secure the border so the drugs quit coming and we don't lose 70,000 more lives a year, and Mexico becomes a top 10 economy because we drop the corruption. That's compassion."

#mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px}
/* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.
We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */