--- description: A young fan confronted Senator Tom Cotton during a town hall in Arkansas about the possibility of losing PBS and parks to the border wall. title: 7-Year-Old Asks Tom Cotton About Losing PBS to Border Wall image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebaebde5161bacd7/6988bb9bcf40a8a47bc4693a/tom-cotton-7-year-old-pbs-parks-wall.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch This Brave 7-Year-Old Boy Confront Senator Tom Cotton on Trump's Border Wall  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 23, 2017 6:43 PM CUT  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 23, 2017 6:43 PM CUT During a town hall in Springdale, Arkansas on Wednesday, [Senator Tom Cotton](http://time.com/4412018/republican-convention-tom-cotton-speech-transcript/ "undefined") fielded questions from his constituents that ranged from [the planned repeal of the Affordable Care Act](http://time.com/4642088/trump-inauguration-obamacare-repeal-order/ "undefined") to [the potential elimination of federal agencies and programs](http://time.com/money/4639544/trump-nea-sesame-street-budget-cut/ "undefined"). During the event, Cotton’s constituents were not shy about vocalizing their concerns, but one young citizen, in particular, stood out for his forthrightness in holding the senator accountable. Toby Smith, a 7-year-old student, expressed concern for the way that [President Trump has talked about Mexico](http://time.com/4679821/trump-mexico-tillerson-kelly-immigration/ "undefined") and what the greater ramifications of [building a wall at the Mexico border would mean](http://time.com/4646273/donald-trump-wall-mexico-border-immigration/ "undefined"). “Donald Trump makes Mexicans not important to people who are in Arkansas who like Mexicans,” Smith said. “He is deleting all the parks and PBS Kids just to make a wall and he shouldn’t do that. He shouldn’t do all that stuff just for the wall.” Cotton attempted to reassure Smith by telling him that “we are a melting pot” and offering rationale for the wall construction. “We want Mexico to be a healthy, strong partner,” Cotton said. “But we also have to protect our own citizens, and that’s where the wall comes in.” Watch Toby at the town hall above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4680500/tom-cotton-pbs-parks-wall/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4680500/tom-cotton-pbs-parks-wall/"},"headline":"Watch This Brave 7-Year-Old Boy Confront Senator Tom Cotton on Trump's Border Wall","datePublished":"2017-02-23T18:43:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:56:53.244Z","description":"\"He is deleting all the parks and PBS Kids just to make a wall\"","url":"https://time.com/4680500/tom-cotton-pbs-parks-wall/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","politics","pbs","kids","Culture","national park service"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebaebde5161bacd7/6988bb9bcf40a8a47bc4693a/tom-cotton-7-year-old-pbs-parks-wall.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebaebde5161bacd7/6988bb9bcf40a8a47bc4693a/tom-cotton-7-year-old-pbs-parks-wall.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate Armed Services Committee Holds Hearing On Situation In Afghanistan","caption":"Senate Armed Services Committee Holds Hearing On Situation In Afghanistan","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4680500/tom-cotton-pbs-parks-wall/","name":"Watch This Brave 7-Year-Old Boy Confront Senator Tom Cotton on Trump's Border Wall"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"\"He is deleting all the parks and PBS Kids just to make a wall\"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4680500/tom-cotton-pbs-parks-wall/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4680500/tom-cotton-pbs-parks-wall/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```