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Gov. Scott Walker said over the weekend that it’s a “legitimate” idea to consider building a wall between the United States and Canada to deter terrorists.

In a 30-minute taped interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd, Walker emphasized his desire to “secure” the country’s borders, focusing on the southern border with Mexico. But when pressed by Todd, Walker said extending that effort to the country’s 5,525-mile border with Canada is worth looking into.

“Why are we always talking about the southern border and a fence there? We don’t talk about a northern border — where, if this is about securing the border from potentially terrorists coming over,” Todd said, asking Walker if he would build a wall on the northern border, too.

“Some people have asked us about that in New Hampshire,” Walker responded. “They raised some very legitimate concerns, including some law enforcement folks that brought that up to me at one of our town hall meetings about a week and a half ago. So, that is a legitimate issue for us to look at.”

Walker and other GOP candidates seeking the 2016 presidential nomination have focused heavily on immigration — especially front-runner Donald Trump, who has called for a wall to be built between the U.S. and Mexico and said that Mexico should pay for it.

But secure borders also help fight terrorists, Walker told cadets at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday while laying out his foreign policy agenda. That element of his plan prompted Todd’s questions about the lack of campaign rhetoric about securing the country’s northern border.

In December 1999, a 34-year-old Algerian man living in Montreal, Quebec, who planned to bomb Los Angeles International Airport was arrested in Port Angeles, Washington, after a customs agent questioning him as he tried to enter the U.S. became suspicious.

In the interview, Walker also dismissed a recent Marquette University poll that showed 39 percent of Wisconsin residents approve of his job performance. Fellow 2016 GOP hopeful Ohio Gov. John Kasich has a job approval rating of 61 percent, Todd noted by way of comparison.

“You should want someone who doesn’t care about the next election — they care about the next generation. That’s the difference,” Walker said in response. “I went out and pushed big, bold reforms in my first term — I haven’t let up. I’m the kind of leader that’s going to go out and say, ‘I don’t care about the next election, I care what’s right for the next generation.’”

Walker also was asked about statistics showing life for black residents of Wisconsin is significantly different than it is for white residents. Wisconsin has the highest rate of incarceration for black males and ranks last in the country in quality of life for black children, while the unemployment rate for black residents of Wisconsin is double the national average.

“It’s a sad truth — it’s been true for decades,” said Walker, who was Milwaukee County executive before being elected governor in 2010.

Walker then touted the state’s school voucher program, saying it gave “African-American and Latino and other families the ability to get beyond some of the schools in those neighborhoods that weren’t living up to those standards.”

He said his landmark collective bargaining measure known as Act 10 could help address racial disparities in schools. .

Walker then told the story of Wauwatosa teacher Megan Sampson, who was laid off in 2010 by the Milwaukee School District after her first year of teaching, despite being an award-winning English teacher. Walker said Act 10 allowed school districts to get rid of seniority rules often found in union contracts.

Sampson has repeatedly objected to Walker’s use of her story while campaigning.

Dr_Phibes wrote:...the border has a twenty foot 'No touch Zone'...

As Gov. Scott Walker faced ridicule Monday for calling the building of a wall on the Canadian border a “legitimate issue,” his presidential campaign said he isn’t pushing for the idea.

“Despite the attempts of some to put words in his mouth, Gov. Walker wasn’t advocating for a wall along our northern border,” Walker spokeswoman AshLee Strong said in a statement.

The campaign responded after Walker’s comment was widely mocked, from a Democratic senator calling it one of the “craziest” ideas of the campaign so far to fellow GOP presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, saying building a Canadian wall is a “pretty dumb idea” and a “ridiculous notion” in an interview on Boston Herald Radio.

Walker’s comments came during a recorded 30-minute interview Saturday with NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd that was posted online Sunday.

“Do you want to build a wall north of here too?” Todd asked, noting that Walker has talked about building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to deter terrorism in addition to illegal immigration.

“Some people have asked us about that in New Hampshire,” Walker replied. “They raised some very legitimate concerns, including some law enforcement folks that brought that up to me at one of our town hall meetings about a week and a half ago. So that is a legitimate issue for us to look at.”

The segment wasn’t part of the edited interview that aired Sunday morning on Meet the Press, but it garnered plenty of attention after it was posted.

Canada Defense Minister Jason Kenney told reporters Sunday the country would “vigorously oppose any thickening of the border” and that “there are some American political actors who are not aware of the progress that has been made on continental security,” Politico reported.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, on Monday called it “one of the craziest” ideas of the presidential campaign. The head of a super PAC supporting fellow candidate Jeb Bush said on Twitter that Walker was “distracted” and “focused on his plan to build wall with ... Canada. #NotReady.”

In the immediate aftermath of his comments, Walker didn’t back down, tweeting on Sunday: “Law enforcement expressed concerns to me about border security. I won’t ignore them.”

The episode capped a brutal month for Walker’s presidential campaign, including a lackluster debate performance, declining support among Wisconsin voters and in key presidential nominating states and reports of donor dissatisfaction as Walker has lost ground to surging Republican candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson.

A Monmouth University poll released Monday found Walker’s support in Iowa dropped from 22 percent in July to 7 percent in August, moving him from first place to fifth. The Des Moines Register also released a poll over the weekend showing Walker’s support dropping from 17 percent in May to 8 percent in August, or tied for third with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas behind Trump, the real estate mogul and reality television personality, and Carson, a retired neurosurgeon.

Meanwhile on Monday, the Walker campaign released a new online ad highlighting his foreign policy speech in South Carolina last week and taking a shot at Bush for not saying he would cancel the Iranian nuclear deal on his first day as president, as Walker has pledged.

Walker is campaigning in Texas later this week, after which he is planning to tour all 10 counties in New Hampshire riding a Harley motorcycle over Labor Day Weekend.