News/Commentary

Karine Jean-Pierre appears to suffer a technical malfunction in defending ‘secure’ border

September 16, 2022 | | Print Article

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had a rough day at the office on Thursday answering questions about the alleged “secure” border Vice President Kamala Harris recently assured the nation was in place.

The issue of immigration drove the news cycle on Thursday when two busloads of illegal immigrants sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott arrived near Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., this coming on the heels of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sending two planes full of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday.

Asked by NBC News chief White House correspondent Kristen Welker if the White House stands by the claim that the border is secure, the diversity hire sounded a lot like she was suffering from a technical malfunction.

“What we stand by is that we’re doing everything that we can, uh, to make sure that we, uhm, follow the process that’s been put forth. That’s why we have historic funding to do just that, to make sure that, uh, uhm… you know, to make sure that, uh — to make sure that the folks that we encounter at the border be removed or expelled.

Somewhat surprising, reporters are pushing back on the ridiculous claim that the southern border with Mexico is sure — then again, it’s difficult to defend the lawless open border under Biden when the Federation for American Immigration Reform estimated 4.9 million illegal immigrants have crossed into the United States since he took office some 20 months ago

“Is the border secure?” Welker pressed.

“I’m just going to refer back to the Vice President. We agree with her,” Jean-Pierre said. “She is saying that there’s a lot of work to do. Right? She also said that in that very statement. We agree that the border is secure, but there is still more work to be done.”

Welker continued to grill Jean-Pierre, who fell back on blaming Donald Trump for a crisis of their own making.

“How you can make that argument when DHS has said it’s bracing for these potentially 2 million migrants to come, which would be a record, in the coming months,” the reporter asked.

“So, you know, we’ll say this: Rebuilding the immigration system, especially one that was decimated under the previous administration, won’t happen overnight,” the president’s spokesperson said. “We’re not going to flip a switch and get that done. That’s what I said at the beginning. We know that there’s work to be done.”

Here’s a quick sampling of a few responses to the story from Twitter:

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