WASHINGTON – On “News and Views”, Ed Schafer shared his thoughts on his fellow former North Dakota governor and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
He has allowed cherry trees to be chopped down on public land in Washington, D.C. some say for the redesign of the East Potomac Golf Course. The Interior Department said it was done during routine maintenance.
“I think he’s doing the bidding of the President of the United States,” Schafer explained. “There just are ways that you can deal with this without having to sell the land, turn it over, give it to the private sector. Sometimes you say let’s put something on the edge and horizontal drill it so that we can come underneath it, but not disturb the surface.”
Schafer added what Burgum is doing is against President Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy of conservation.
The former U.S. Agriculture Secretary also shared why Congressional Republicans tell him they don’t often speak out against President Trump.
“You kind of have to be careful because he’s so dang vindictive that he’ll put something back on the state or he’ll cut back grants or he takes stuff away from states to show you who’s boss. So, they can actually hurt their constituents,” Schafer said.
Schafer believes Republicans will lose the midterm elections and will be pushed back on by Democrats. He added that will give republicans cover that the president won’t hurt their states.
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