Lara Trump to federal workers: Missed paychecks are sacrifices for the 'future of our country'

As the longest government shutdown in U.S. history persists, Lara Trump is urging federal employees to "stay strong," noting that they are sacrificing "for the future of our country" - a message that drew criticism.

Trump, who is the president's daughter-in-law and campaign adviser, told the digital news network Bold TV earlier this week that the president is fighting for "what he knows is the right thing to do."

"It's not fair to you, and we all get that, but this is so much bigger than any one person," she said. "It is a little bit of pain but it's going to be for the future of our country, and their children and their grandchildren and generations after them will thank them for their sacrifice right now. I know it's hard. I know people have families, they have bills to pay, they have mortgages, they have rents that are due. But the president is trying every single day to come up with a good solution here and, the reality is, it's been something that's gone on for too long and been unaddressed - our immigration problem.

"If we do nothing right now, it's never going to get fixed. This is our one opportunity."

., do you have any idea what it’s like to get bills in the mail that you can’t pay? Do you know what it’s like not to visit the doctor because you can’t afford the deductible? The amount of stress that puts on a family is huge. It’s a lot more than “a bit of a pain.”

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti)

Following Trump's remark>, some people on social media scoffed at the idea that the shutdown is "a little bit of pain," noting that about 800,000 government employees are affected and that some of them have no paychecks coming in.

The co-hosts on ABC's "The View" also criticized the shutdown and Trump's rationale for it.

"It's just such a bad look," co-host Meghan McCain said Wednesday morning on the show.

"If you are a millionaire's wife," Sunny Hostin added, "you may not understand that there are families that can't afford to feed their children."

Joy Behar then quickly interjected: "But she's married to [Eric Trump] - she knows pain."

The partial government shutdown, which started Dec. 22, continues as President Donald Trump demands more than $5 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and Democrats decline to pay for it.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., proposed a temporary truce, allowing the federal government to reopen so that the Senate can work to find a solution. It includes a ban on lawmakers' ability to use government shutdowns as a negotiation tactic, according to news reports.

Lara Trump said the issue is that without the shutdown, the president has "no hand to play."

Then she told government workers who are unable to work to "please stay strong."

"We appreciate everything that you're sacrificing," Trump said on Bold TV. "We are behind you, and we're going do everything we can. I know the president is doing everything he can to resolve this quickly."