President Donald Trump attacked California Governor Jerry Brown in a speech Saturday in Macob County, Michigan, mocking him with the nickname “Moonbeam” and criticizing his state’s “sanctuary” policies.
Trump told the crowd that he is building the border wall, over Governor Brown’s objections:
Are you watching that mess that’s going on right now with the caravan coming up? Are you watching this? And our laws are so weak, they’re so pathetic — given to us by Democrats — they’re so pathetic, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer —
(Boos)
And let me tell you, we’ve gotten Mexico to work with us on stopping a lot of what’s pouring in, but we have the worst laws anywhere in the world. We don’t have borders. We’re gonna build the wall, we’re getting it — we’ve already started, I don’t know if you’ve seen —
(Cheers)
You know, its’s funny, — so, San Diego, they’re being just overrun — great place, but they’re being overrun by people pouring [in]. So they’re begging us for a wall. So we have the money, it’s all funded in San Diego. And those people really want it. And I said, “Let’s not do it there. Let’s let them put pressure on Governor Jerry Brown.” Moonbeam! Moonbeam!
(Cheers)
So we started the wall, and it’s being built in San Diego — beautiful job, they’re doing a great job. And I said, you know, “We stop that wall, all the people in San Diego are gonna put a lot of pressure.” And I said, “Well, let’s see about that.” So I said, “How much would it cost to stop the wall?” “Sir, it’ll cost seven million in extras.” I can’t pay the extras. I hate extras.
(Laughter)
So we’re building the wall. But San Diego, San Diego wants the wall, it’s going up, and honestly, seriously, they would have put a lot of pressure in California. If you look at what’s going on with sanctuary cities now — all over California, especially —
(Boos)
California, the home of sanctuary cities, the home of sanctuary cities — but do you see what’s going on? Where areas, big areas — they don’t want sanctuary cities. They want to be safe. They don’t want ’em.
The “Moonbeam” nickname dates to Governor Brown’s first term in office, in the 1970s.
Critics dispute the idea that Trump is building his wall, noting that Congress has yet to appropriate new funding for the project, and that the structure being built at the moment is merely more of the same “bollard fence” that exists in other areas of the border.
For the second year in a row, Trump had skipped the White House Correspondents Dinner to deliver a speech to his supporters.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named to Forward’s 50 “most influential” Jews in 2017. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.