Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.) called on President Trump to push back on the far-right flank of his base that urged him to recently shut down the government to fund a border wall.

“Don’t let right-wing whack-a-doodles run the place,” he said Sunday on said on John Catsimatidis’s radio show. “They’re out of their mind.”

{mosads}Before the 35-day partial government shutdown began in December, Trump signaled that he would sign a Senate-approved funding bill that did not include border wall funds. But after facing intense backlash from conservative allies on Capitol Hill and in the media, he announced he would not approve it. 

However, D’Amato slammed both parties’ conduct during the shutdown, calling it “disgraceful.”

“Both sides have acted in a disgraceful manner. They’re just worried about politics. They’re worried about the next election,” he said. “That’s why the American people hold politicians in disdain. They have earned that distinction because they obviously have put politics first and the nation is forgotten.”

Trump signed a three-week continuing resolution to reopen the government Friday evening while a bipartisan conference committee will let congressional Democrats and Republicans negotiate further border security measures, including Trump’s border wall. 

Trump has threatened to declare a national emergency if they don’t agree to appropriate the necessary funds for the project.

“I hope the politicians on both sides of the aisle don’t blow this,” D’Amato said. “They’ve got three weeks to do it. Demonstrate that we are above this bitter partisanship that exists.”