Staff Reports
Vice President Kamala Harris is set to make a grand spectacle at the southern border, a place she’s familiar with in a rather disastrous capacity. This visit comes after she has been proudly labeled, if not affectionately, as the “border czar” since March 2021. Yet, here she is, hitting the Arizona border scene for a campaign boost, armed with an ambition to demonstrate some sort of authority on immigration. However, a closer inspection reveals that such a display may be more akin to a clown in a circus than a seasoned diplomat.
The Associated Press appears to have taken Harris’s planned appearance a bit too seriously, initially claiming that she would be there to showcase “strength” on immigration. But after the flames of social media had burned their fingers, they scrambled to change the headline. Now it reads more like an attempt to backtrack, with the new phrasing emphasizing her aim for a “show of strength” rather than simply boasting about it. This reeks of the kind of revisionist history seen all too often in mainstream media.
https://twitter.com/mattdizwhitlock/status/1839106631239434571
In response to the baffling portrayal of Harris’s immigration policies, Republican strategist Matt Whitlock raised an eyebrow at the use of the word “strength.” With her handling of the border crisis being a glaring point of vulnerability for her and the Biden administration, Whitlock’s skepticism is warranted. Some might wonder whether this is an effort to mask her failures or simply a desperate attempt to rally her base. In reality, each trip to the border only serves as a reminder of the catastrophic mismanagement that has unfolded under her watch.
While an anonymous aide may have hyped up the visit, the reality is there for all to see. The narrative pushed by the AP suggests that President Biden assigned Harris the monumental task of addressing the root causes of immigration. However, calling her the “border czar” feels like a generous title for someone who has overseen an unprecedented surge in illegal crossings. This also comes as voters consistently express dissatisfaction with how the administration has handled immigration, with polls indicating former President Donald Trump leading Harris in voter trust on this issue.
As if to add more irony to the mix, recent statistics from reliable sources have shown that a majority of registered voters support the deportation of illegal immigrants, a point of contention that Harris and her allies are trying their best to sidestep. The refreshed narrative sounds a lot more like someone attempting to sweep dirt under the carpet rather than addressing the monumental issues at hand. Ultimately, by showing up at the border, Harris may inadvertently be underscoring the very failures she’s trying to obfuscate with her fleeting stunts.
