White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre doubled down Thursday on Kamala Harris’ claim that the United States’ border with Mexico is “secure” despite the massive surge of illegal aliens crossing and overwhelming border towns in Texas and Arizona.
Harris was widely mocked after she insisted on “Meet the Press” Sunday that “the border is secure” and blamed the previous administration for today’s “broken administration system.”
Jean-Pierre played the same word games to avoid accountability, and also shifted blame on the Trump administration.
“We agree with her. She is saying that there’s a lot of work to do, right?” the spokeswoman said in response to a reporter’s question. “We agree that the border is secure but there is still more work to be done.”
REPORTER: "Is the border secure?"
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: "We agree that the border is secure" pic.twitter.com/ZYUTuU9dcr
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 15, 2022
Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich asked the press secretary, “Do you think that Americans believe that the border is secure?”
Jean-Pierre replied, “What I can tell you is the record and the process that we have been using to make sure that we do our best to secure the border.”
She added: “We do our best to make sure that we fix a broken system that was left behind by the last administration, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”
Heinrich later asked if the voters should feel like they are being “lied to” when they see images of large crowds of illegal immigrants, and hear reports of overwhelmed US immigration processing centers.
“So again, it is a broken system, the immigration system, and it was decimated by the last administration,” Jean-Pierre replied, referring to former president Donald Trump.
Karine Jean-Pierre is asked if "voters might feel like they're being lied to [by Biden] when we're seeing images" of overwhelmed border communities.
She then blames the Trump administration for the Biden administration not having a secure border 🤨 pic.twitter.com/CxAfFzlch7
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 15, 2022
After the Trump administration ended catch and release, instituted asylum reforms, and implemented expedited removals for illegal aliens, illegal border crossings fell by almost 90 percent. Even though he was met with resistance from both Democrats and Republicans on the border wall, by the time Trump left office, over 700 miles of border wall had been fully funded and contracted out, over 650 miles of border wall had been built or were undergoing construction, and more than 450 miles of border wall had been fully constructed.
That was the immigration system Biden inherited and promptly dismantled within his first weeks in office.
When pressed again on the dire situation at the border, Jean-Pierre again blamed the Trump administration for the “broken system.”
“What we have been doing is doing the work that wasn’t done by the last administration. We are fixing a broken system. It is not like turning the light switch on. It is going to take some time,” she said.
"Crossings are up, drownings along the border are increasing…the morgue is overwhelmed by migrant deaths. Do you feel like the situation at the border is under control?"
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: "We are fixing a broken system." pic.twitter.com/GJVDi7cqVX
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 15, 2022
When asked if she had a “message for the migrants” who are telling reporters that the border is open (obviously) because they were able to cross over with no problem, Jean Pierre had no answer, and referred the question to the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
"Do you have a message for the migrants, though, who are saying that the border is open?"
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: No pic.twitter.com/Ow8UKIDTkU
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 15, 2022
Jean-Pierre went further than Harris on Thursday, and also blamed Republicans in general for the crisis at the border, calling out Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), whom she mistakenly referred to as “Texas Governor Ted Cruz.”
Karine Jean-Pierre: "Texas Governor Ted Cruz" pic.twitter.com/kpwM6jG2hw
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 15, 2022
At one point, the press secretary seemed to lose focus, and seemed to actually suggest that the Biden regime was committed to removing migrants who crossed the border illegally.
“We are doing everything that we can, uh, to make sure that um, uh, that we follow the process that’s been put forth,” the spokeswoman said, clearly struggling to come up with an answer. “That’s why we have historic funding, uh, to do just that. To make sure that uh, um, you know, um, uh, to make sure that um—to make sure that the folks that we encounter at the border be removed or expelled.”
Karine Jean-Pierre doesn't seem to have answers for what's going on at the border.
"To make sure that uhhh…ummm…you know….uhhhh" pic.twitter.com/d1cJLXUQvJ
— 3sidedstory 🇺🇲 (@3sidedstory) September 15, 2022