Incoming White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney called President Trump’s views on a border wall “absurd and almost childish” in 2015, according to comments unearthed by CNN investigative unit KFile.
In an interview with a South Carolina radio station in August of 2015, Mulvaney said a physical barrier like a fence or wall at the U.S.-Mexico border would not provide a final solution to immigrants entering the country illegally, according to CNN.
“The fence doesn’t solve the problem. Is it necessary to have one? Sure. Would it help? Sure. But to just say build the darn fence and have that be the end of an immigration discussion is absurd and almost childish for someone running for president to take that simplistic of [a] view,” Mulvaney said on WRHI radio.
“And by the way, the bottom line is the fence doesn’t stop anybody who really wants to get across,” Mulvaney said at the time, according to CNN.
Mulvaney’s office did not immediately reply to a request for comment from The Hill.
{mosads}The comments were unearthed as the Senate on Friday considers a House-passed short-term funding measure for the government that provides $5.7 billion for President Trump’s wall.
Trump has said he will not sign a bill unless it includes funding for border security. Failure to pass a government funding bill by midnight on Friday would lead to a government shutdown.
Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, was chosen as acting chief of staff by President Trump earlier this month. He will replace John Kelly, who’s due to step down at the end of the year.
Mulvaney called the appointment a “tremendous honor.” He will stay on as the budget director while serving as acting chief.
Separately, the Daily Beast reported earlier this week that Mulvaney called Trump a “terrible human being” at a debate in South Carolina in 2016.
“Yes, I am supporting Donald Trump, but I’m doing so despite the fact that I think he’s a terrible human being,” Mulvaney said in a video obtained by the Daily Beast.