Flashback: Democrats Joe Manchin, Joe Donnelly, Heidi Heitkamp Backed Trump’s Border Wall Funding

Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) supported President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall funding in August.

Ahead of the September spending battle, three Senate Democrats backed President Donald Trump’s proposed $5 billion in border wall funding amidst their competitive Senate re-election campaigns.

Sen. Donnelly said in August that he does “not want under any circumstance” a government shutdown, that Congress should “absolutely” partially fund the president’s border wall.

“I’m fine with providing him some more. I actually voted for border wall funding three different times,” Donnelly told Politico on Wednesday. “I’m fine with that. I’m fine with $3 [billion], $3.5, $4 or $5” billion this fall.

Sen. Manchin told Breitbart News in August that he supports funding President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall in the fall spending bill.

“Sen. Manchin supports President Trump’s $5 billion border wall funding. Sen. Manchin has already voted for over $40 billion in border security to fund the wall and secure our borders,” Jonathan Kott, Sen. Manchin’s communications director, told Breitbart News.

Sen. Heitkamp also told Breitbart News in August that she has “always supported increased” border security and wall funding and that she, too, hopes to avoid a government shutdown that would arise from a fight over partially funding Trump’s border wall.

Heitkamp told Breitbart News:

I’ve always supported increased and enhanced border security along our southwest border with Mexico – including physical barriers, sensors, drones, and more resources at our ports of entry – and yes, wall funding as well. My votes clearly reflect a commitment to robust border security funding. And shutting down the government is never the way to go.

President Donald Trump has often lamented that he has trouble obtaining border wall funding because although he controls the House of Representatives, he needs 60 votes in the Senate to receive his requested funding. Senate Republicans currently control 51 seats in Congress’s upper chamber, meaning that if these three Senate Democrats hold their August statements, Trump needs only flip six more Senate Democrats to receive his $5 billion in wall funding.