President Trump said Tuesday the only senators who voted against new Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie were Democrats who plan to run against Mr. Trump in 2020.
“The only ones who actually voted against him were all the people, super-lefts, who are running against me in two years. If you want to know who’s running, just take a look at Wilkie’s score,” Mr. Trump told the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Senate confirmed Mr. Wilkie Monday night by a vote of 86-9, with five senators not voting. The “no” votes were from Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey; Kamala D. Harris and Dianne Feinstein of California; Kirsten Gillibrand of New York; Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts; Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon; and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Mr. Booker, Ms. Harris, Ms. Gillibrand, Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders are often mentioned as potential Democratic candidates in 2020.
Mr. Trump said of his new VA secretary, who accompanied him to Missouri, “He’s going to be fantastic.”
The president also blasted Democrats for calling for the abolishment of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, saying that about one-third of ICE officers are veterans.
He said the issue will be a strong one for Republicans in the mid-term election and in 2020.
“Democratic politicians want to abolish ICE,” Mr. Trump said. “They want to see open borders. The crime would be unbelievable. And they want to get rid of the crime-fighter, on top of everything else. We’re going to have a lot of fun in four months [in the mid-term] and we’re going to have a lot of fun in 2020 running against them.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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