Something tells me this won’t assuage fears from Democrats that Kamala Harris is out of her depth in dealing with the border crisis. The Biden administration can’t ask for a friendlier venue than Univision for its immigration policies, and Harris had a golden opportunity to rebound after a disastrous trip to Guatemala. Instead, she snapped at Univision host Ilia Calderón when pressed to commit to a specific time to visit the US-Mexico border to see the crisis first-hand:
“I said I’m going to go to the border,” Harris told Univision host Ilia Calderón, repeating a line she’s used repeatedly before that hasn’t yet proven true. “When are you going to the border,” interjected Calderón, seeking some concrete details on this often-promised trip that hasn’t materialized.
Apparently caught off-guard by this natural follow-up question, Harris raised her finger and said “I’m not finished,” channeling her debate performance against Vice President Mike Pence, before adding her standard chuckle. “I’ve said I’m going to the border,” Harris added.
She said she’s going to the border? When? Harris has been dodging that question for some time. In her interview with Lester Holt, Harris claimed at first that she’d already been to the border, only to reverse herself when Holt contradicted her. Harris essentially walked into her own perjury trap, and then offered a bizarre non-sequitur when caught:
.@LesterHoltNBC pushes Harris on the border including why she hasn’t visited.
Harris: "We've been the border."
Holt: "YOU haven't been to the border."
Harris: "…..and I haven't been to Europe. I don't understand the point you're making."
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 8, 2021
That was just three days before this interview. If Harris had committed to a border visit in between, it escaped serious notice. At this point, given her track record of answers on this question, it’s no small wonder that Calderón wanted a specific commitment from Harris — and no small wonder that Harris didn’t have an answer for it.
Waggling a finger at a Fox News host might have some value for Harris, at least among Democrats. Scolding a Univision host over a perfectly valid question during an attempt to reset her own disaster in Guatemala? As PR strategies go, it’s, um … certainly one of them.
At some point, one has to wonder what the White House is thinking. They shouldn’t have handed this portfolio to a politician this incompetent in the first place, but the least they could have done was to schedule a brief border visit in March or early April to avert this line of questioning. It’s astounding that Joe Biden and his team still fear the media coverage that a border visit would bring more than they fear the damage that Harris’ bungling has produced, especially lately.
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