'They failed': House Freedom Caucus member blames Trump and GOP for border struggles

An ultra-conservative member of the House Republican majority is laying blame for the surge of immigrants at the Southern border not at the feet of President Joe Biden, but on his fellow Republicans — namely, former President Donald Trump.

During a recent interview with Fox Business' Neil Cavuto, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who sits on the far-right House Freedom Caucus, took his party to task for failing to take decisive action on the border while they were in power.

"I would acknowledge President Trump failed along with Republicans Paul Ryan and the guys, they failed in 2018 to actually move a border security bill to tighten this so we aren't dealing with this crisis right now," Roy said. "They failed to actually get the wall built. President Trump signed 12 continuing resolutions — after he said he would never sign another one — if they didn't give him the money to finish building the wall."

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"Look, this stuff matters. It adds up. I call balls and strikes. This is not hard," he added.

The 2018 legislation Roy is referring to is what triggered the federal government shutdown of 2018-2019, which stretched on for more than a month and is officially regarded the longest federal shutdown in US history. The origins of that shutdown stem from then-President Trump insisting that he wouldn't sign legislation to keep the government open unless he got an additional $5 billion for border wall construction.

That shutdown ultimately ended in late January of 2019 when Trump re-opened the government without getting any border wall money. Trump's relenting on the wall was panned by far-right figures, with conservative pundit Ann Coulter calling him "the biggest wimp to ever serve as President of the United States."

In 2015, Trump launched his campaign with a focus on immigration — and a new border wall in particular — that he would make Mexico pay for. However, he was unable to make Mexico pay for a wall, and unsuccessfully tried to fund wall construction with roughly $3.6 billion in military construction funds. That came several months after Trump mulled using $1 billion in military pension money to build his wall.

READ MORE: GOP rep melts down on House floor over Republican failures

Watch the video of Roy's remarks below, or by clicking this link.