Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) told CNN reporter Dana Bash in an interview released on Wednesday that she supports President Donald Trump "100 percent" to do what it takes to secure the border.
"The impression he's giving Missourians, that somehow the Democrats are in favor of our border being overrun. I am not. I support the president 100 percent doing what he needs to do to secure the border," McCaskill said.
A caravan of migrants from Latin American countries, mainly from Honduras, is making its way through Mexico in hopes of reaching the United States. The caravan is made up of an estimated 7,000 people. Trump is sending 5,200 troops to the border to prepare and assist for the oncoming caravan. Critics of the president say the move is an election ploy to energize his voters before the midterm elections.
McCaskill is in a tough reelection battle against Republican Josh Hawley, the Missouri attorney general. The RealClearPolitics average of polls shows Hawley with a two-point lead in the race.
The CNN segment mentioned other ways McCaskill has tried appealing to voters in a state that overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2016. One clip showed McCaskill quoting former President Ronald Reagan in an attempt to attack Hawley's age.
"As Ronald Reagan said, I'm going to try not to hold his youth and inexperience against him," McCaskill said. "He may be a Yale-educated lawyer, but I am a Mizzou-educated lawyer, and I can keep up."
In order to cultivate a moderate image, McCaskill has hit members of her own party as "crazy."
Her campaign released a radio ad that features a man saying, "Claire's not one of those crazy Democrats." Bash asked who those "crazy Democrats" are. McCaskill referenced people who are harassing public officials in restaurants and the person who put a swastika on a Hawley sign. In a separate interview, McCaskill specifically mentioned Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal, who last year was censured by the Missouri Senate for saying President Donald Trump should be assassinated.