Democrats Put Border Security Front and Center at the DNC

Democrats are finally going on the offensive on the border, and they highlighted that in Chicago on Wednesday night.

Chris Murphy
Sen. Chris Murphy focused on the border in his Wednesday night speech at the DNC. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

When Sen. Chris Murphy, a high-profile Democrat, took the stage on the third night of the Democratic National Convention, he focused on what has long been thought of as a vulnerability for Democrats: the border.

Murphy blamed former President Donald Trump for the death of the bipartisan border bill the Connecticut senator led through the Senate in May. He highlighted that the legislation would have given $20 billion in new border security and authorized the president to shut down the border.

“Donald Trump’s allies weren’t just in the room, they helped us write the whole bill,” Murphy said. “One Republican said it would have had almost unanimous support if it weren’t for Donald Trump. Trump killed that bill, and he did it because he knew that if we fixed the border, he’d lose his ability to divide us.”