President Donald Trump is "absolutely lying" when he says Democrats want open borders, Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Tuesday.
"Democrats oppose illegal immigration," the Maryland Democrat told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"People coming into this country should come legally. The president is absolutely lying when he says Democrats want open borders. We want strong border security. That's been part of every bipartisan immigration reform bill we've had.
"We are against separating moms from their small kids at the border. We're against these outrageous statements."
Trump also talked about opening fire on unarmed people, Van Hollen continued, and his own military "had to tell him, that's not what we do in the United States military."
Meanwhile, Democrats have done everything possible in the United States to win in the midterm elections, said Van Hollen.
"This is the toughest political battlefield that any party has faced in 60 years," he said. "One of the big stories here is the states that you're not talking about that Republicans said they were going to win, all those midwestern states that Trump won, Republicans were predicting they were going to win a supermajority, pick up eight seats in the Senate. Not happening."
But the Trump-won states are very tough ones, and the path to a Senate Democratic majority is very narrow, said Van Hollen.
"I think it's just important to remind people that Republicans are not really in a strong position at all in midwestern states that Trump won in," he said.
"When Trump's proposing something bad for their states, they'll oppose him, which is why the healthcare issue has been so important. Because for the last two years, Trump and Republicans have tried to strip away protections for people with preexisting conditions."