The shutdown over funding for a border wall continues and yesterday President Trump kept up his push for the wall by comparing it to a security wall constructed around the Obamas’ house in Washington, DC.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1079497288605683712

Trump is talking about the $8 million home the Obamas bought in Washington, DC. Last year TMZ reported that there was new construction taking place at the home with what appeared to be brick columns intended to raise the height of an exterior wall.

President Obama Builds a Wall for Rental House (PHOTO GALLERY) https://t.co/ntpuu8xeep

— TMZ (@TMZ) January 6, 2017

The Daily Caller also published a video of the wall under construction. NBC News reports the Obamas also have guard towers:

TMZ first reported in 2017 that the couple was building a fence-like wall and published photos showing what appeared to be the construction of a few brick columns. The project has since been completed.

Another photo of the home in Town and Country magazine showed a metal gate and brick columns. The Obamas also added guard booths.

No doubt the extra wall height and the guard booths were created at the behest of the Secret Service but Trump still has a point about a wall being necessary for basic security. But his jab at the Obama’s was viewed as a threat by some, including a father of one of the kids killed in the Parkland shooting:

You f–ng lunatic. Are you seriously trying to put our former President at risk? https://t.co/Y6Yr2o6Fdr

— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) December 31, 2018

For the record, I don’t think tweeting about the Obamas’ security wall puts them at risk. The story has been out there for nearly two years. At worst it’s mildly embarrassing and that’s allowed. Today, Trump continued his tweets about the wall:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1079721675346923520

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1079731279032172545

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1079763419908243456

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1079763923845419009

I don’t think Democrats really care that the money spent on a wall would be wasted and I don’t think they really believe it wouldn’t work. Mostly, I think they care about denying Trump a win on his signature campaign promise as a way to attack him as a failure in 2020. In other words, this isn’t primarily about principle, it’s primarily about politics.