WASHINGTON, Dec 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump pointed
Wednesday to the mass shooting at a Christmas market in France to bolster his
demands for funding to build a US border wall with Mexico.
Trump’s tweet linking the issues came despite the fact that the suspect in
Tuesday’s attack in Strasbourg, France, is a native of the city with a
criminal past and extremist views.
A French prosecutor said the gunman shouted “Allahu Akbar” — Arabic for
“God is greatest” — before opening fire in a popular Christmas market in the
city’s medieval center, killing two people, leaving a third brain dead and
wounding 12 others.
Trump mentioned the attack only glancingly, using his first public comment
on the incident to buttress his arguments for funding a US-Mexico border
wall.
“Another very bad terror attack in France. We are going to strengthen our
borders even more. Chuck and Nancy must give us the votes to get additional
Border Security!,” he said.
Trump clashed angrily with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on funding for the wall Tuesday in an Oval
Office meeting carried live on television.