The 5th Congressional District’s U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn took to Cañon City this week to recap what had happened during the federal government shutdown: The Democrats “caved in” while Republicans stood for “principle,” he reportedly told a room of Fremont County Republicans.

The Cañon City Daily Record was on hand Tuesday to record Lamborn’s remarks. His district includes the town southwest of Colorado Springs.

Lamborn said Democrats knew they didn’t have a chance at passing an immigration plan, and that everything was “put aside” for the 800 “illegal kids” – young adults who have some protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival order – living in the 5th CD.

“That’s the Democrat priority for you,” Lamborn reportedly told the crowd. “It’s not the American people’s priorities, it’s not my priorities, and it’s not your priorities.”

Likewise, Lamborn said there are 25,000 children insured through the Child Health Plan Plus living in his district and more than 50,000 people employed by the federal government impacted by the three-day shut down.

After President Donald Trump rescinded the Obama-era DACA executive order in September, Lamborn signaled in a statement he was ready to negotiate border security, saying he was encouraged by Trump’s “commitment to cracking down on illegal immigration” and that he opposes “any type of amnesty.”

“But I also want to find meaningful solutions to this difficult problem, solutions that uphold the rule of law, protect our country, and ensure fairness in our immigration processes,” he said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and Senate over the next six months to achieve these objectives and fix our broken immigration system.”

The Daily Record reported that Lamborn said the press wasn’t much help in the shutdown either.

He said during the deadlock, Republicans stood up for principle.

“Public opinion was so strong, they finally had to give in,” he said. “Of course, the press is going to help the Democrats by blaming Republicans, and the liberals are not going to be reasonable, they’re not going to entertain the thought that they might have been in the wrong.”

Before taking off, Lamborn called the GOP tax plan a “once-in-a generation accomplishment.”

He also promised he’d give Speaker Paul Ryan a petition from the county party that urges Republican leadership to pressure Democrats into attending next week’s State of the Union address.

Ironically, Lamborn himself boycotted former President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address.