Trump now claims he was just kidding about building a wall in Colorado 370 miles away from border
President says he made the comments 'kiddingly' as critics mock him for being geographically challenged
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has suggested he was just kidding when he claimed the US was building a border wall in Colorado, despite the landlocked state sitting hundreds of miles from either of the nation’s foreign borders.
The president posted a tweet on Wednesday night to seemingly walk back comments he made at a speech in Pennsylvania earlier in the day. He incorrectly said in the speech that his administration was building his campaign promise of a border wall in the state of Colorado, which borders New Mexico and Oklahoma.
“We're building a wall in Colorado," he said to the crowd in the city of Pittsburgh. “We're building a beautiful wall. A big one that really works that you can't get over, you can't get under."
Later that night, Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: “(Kiddingly) We’re building a Wall in Colorado’ (then stated, ‘we’re not building a Wall in Kansas but they get the benefit of the Wall we’re building on the Border’)”.
“Refered [sic] to people in the very packed auditorium, from Colorado & Kansas, getting the benefit of the Border Wall!” the tweet continued.
The president’s denial he was serious when he claimed he was building a wall in Colorado was not quickly believed by his critics, who mocked him for appearing to be geographically challenged.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis also took a swipe at the president, writing in a tweet: “Well this is awkward…"
“Good thing Colorado now offers free full day kindergarten so our kids can learn basic geography,” the Democratic governor added.
Justin Amash, a congressman who switched his political affiliation from Republican to Independent under Mr Trump, replied to the president’s tweet: “Totally makes sense.”
A video from the speech does not seem to indicate Mr Trump was joking when he made the comments about Colorado, which came during a long-winded moment as the president touted his efforts to build a US-Mexico border wall.
“You know why we're going to New Mexico? Because they want safety on their border. And they didn't have it," he began, before listing several places the wall was supposedly being built.
“We’re not building a wall in Kansas, but they get the benefit of the walls that were just mentioned,” he added. “And Louisiana’s incredible.”
Mr Trump’s border wall funding has been the subject of intense judicial scrutiny after the president declared a national emergency on the nation’s southern border in February in order to divert military funds to go towards the project.
A US District Court imposed a preliminary injunction earlier this month to stop Mr Trump’s proposed funding plans. It also said the national emergency proclamation was unlawful.
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