Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney (Screenshot)

(CNSNews.com) - Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told “Fox News Sunday” that “many Democrats” are starting to agree with President Donald Trump on the necessity of a barrier.



When asked whether Trump caved to Democrats on the border wall, Mulvaney said, “No, I think what you've seen here is the president seeing an opportunity.



“Why he did what he did was because many Democrats have come to us, some of them privately, many of them spoke out publicly that they are actually starting to agree with him on the necessity for a barrier on the southern border and they had come to us and said, look, we agree with you, you're winning the battle on the importance of a barrier on the southern border, but we simply cannot work with you while the government is open,” he said.



“That's a marked different -- excuse me, while the government was closed,” Mulvaney clarified. “That's a marked difference from where the Democrat leadership was where they said they wouldn't talk to us about border security ever. Nancy Pelosi famously said that even if we open the government, she wouldn't give us a single dollar for the wall.



“So, I think the president saw a chance here to try to take the Democrats at their word. Some of the rank and file, also some of the leadership, Dick Durbin said some decent things about border barrier. Jim Clyburn, my former colleague from South Carolina, said that the experts thought we really needed a barrier, he could vote for it,” he said.



“So, let's give a chance for the Democrats to prove whether or not they really do believe in border security and are willing to go against Nancy Pelosi, or whether or not they are so beholden to their leadership that they are never going to vote for a barrier on the southern border,” Mulvaney added.



He said he laughs when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says there’s no money for a wall, because “she actually just voted for almost a quarter billion dollars for a barrier on the southern border with this deal that just got approved last week.”



Mulvaney said Republicans should ask Democrats whether they’re telling people the truth when they tell their constituents back home that they agree with Trump about the need to have security at the southern border.



“When you look at your constituents back home and say you agree with the president that we have to do something about security at the southern border, are you telling the truth or are you just doing something that's politically expedient?” he said. “This is a chance for them to let their actions speak louder than words.”



Mulvaney said the last time Democrats blindly followed Pelosi “down a path on policy, we ended up with Obamacare and bailouts and cap and trade, they lost control of the House.”



“So, the question is, is Nancy really leading the Democratic Party, or is she just being led by the hard left wing of her party, and will the rest of the Democrats follow her? So, this is just the next step in the negotiation,” he said, adding that Trump will be judged by what happens at the end of the process, “not by what happened this week.”