Squabbling over semantics saw Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance sticking NBC News’ Kristen Welker with the crux of Vice President Kamala Harris’ tenure as “border czar.”
(Video Credit: NBC News)
While the latter half of the Biden-Harris administration endeavored to cherrypick what of their shared record she could be tied to, there was no getting around the responsibility she’d been given to handle the border crisis.
That didn’t stop corporate media from attempting to massage away the harshest criticisms, leading former President Donald Trump’s running mate to bluntly level, “Kamala Harris refuses to do her job as border czar.”
Leading up to the assertion on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Welker prompted, “Alright, another big topic in this race is immigration. There has been a lot of discussion about Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportation. According to one estimate, more than 11 million U.S. citizens live in households with mixed immigration status, including more than five million children. If you and former President Trump were elected, would you separate families as part of your mass deportation effort?”
“Well, we have to start with the foundational issue here, which is why we have 25 million illegal aliens in this country right now because Kamala Harris has refused to do her job,” responded Vance who was promptly met with pushback reminiscent of reports using the Gaza Health Ministry’s figures on casualties in the Israel-Hamas war. “I have, very quickly, DHS says it’s much lower, it’s closer to 8 million. Where do you get the 25 million from?”
The senator explained, “Well, I think the 25 million are the people that should’ve been deported that maybe weren’t deported, plus you add another 12 to 15 million that have come in since Kamala Harris. Look, whatever the number is-” only to be interrupted again by the host he reiterated, “DHS disputes that number, for the record. They say it’s closer to 8-10 million. But, please continue.”
“Fair,” allowed Vance who remained unflustered as he stayed on point, “but I think there are reasons to think that DHS is underestimating. Whatever the real number is, it’s way too high, right? It’s millions upon millions of illegal immigrants that have come in just since Kamala Harris became the border czar a few years ago. The first thing-”
Welker once again interrupted, interjecting, “She was put in charge of the root causes of migration. Go ahead.”
It was there that the vice presidential nominee trounced the word games as he asserted, “Well, the root causes of migration, I would say, Kristen, is that Kamala Harris refuses to do her job as border czar.”
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“And let’s just start there. I want to answer your question, but I think it’s important to sort of sequence this the right way,” the Ohio lawmaker continued. “So if you want to get control of the illegal immigration problem, you have to stop the bleeding. You have to stop so many people from coming here illegally in the first place. And that means undoing everything that Kamala Harris did, practically on day one of the administration.”
Vance went on to call for the reimposition of deportation, an end to catch-and-release, and an end to accepting mass asylum claims in addition to putting a stop to the Biden-Harris administration granting of mass parole which repeatedly led to Americans being victimized by violent criminals.
“These policies are why we have the immigration crisis that we have,” the senator said. “So I think to focus on fixing the problem — before we even fix the problem, we’ve gotta stop the problem from getting worse.”
Another attempt from Welker to peddle talking points from the administration about low levels of crossings accredited to an executive order from President Joe Biden saw Vance contend that a numbers game was being played as foreign nationals were redirected to ports of entry at the American taxpayers’ expense.
“The number of illegal crossings, Kristen — this is a really important point — they’re not any lower,” he argued. “They’re just shuffling how the people are coming into the country in the first place.”
The host’s next try to smooth the edges was met with another scathing rebuttal from the senator when Welker defended, “They’re able to process them more efficiently…”
Vance fired back, “But I don’t, Kristen, I don’t want a border czar who makes it more efficient for illegal immigrants to come into this country. That’s why we have the problem that we have.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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