On Sunday, CNN’s “Inside Politics” criticized President Biden as panelists said he has not taken immigration “seriously” and that his messages on the border have been “very bad.”
“Democrats are deeply disappointed by what this administration has done and hasn’t done,” said Jeff Zeleny, CNN’s chief national affairs correspondent. “He didn’t take it too seriously. You can hear it in his rhetoric there. That’s definitely why it’s going.”
“So yes, it’s a photo shoot, but anytime the president takes the time to go somewhere, it shows that they’re taking it seriously, at least politically,” he said. “So we’ll see what happens from that. But that’s his problem with the Democrats in the Senate. That’s a big challenge for him.”
TEXAS RANCHERS BLAST BIDEN’S FORCED BORDER VISIT: ‘It’s a little overdue’
Zeleny added that it was unclear whether Biden was aware of his party’s immigration policy. The panel discussed Biden’s visit to the border, as he is expected to spend several hours in El Paso, Texas on Sunday.
Host Abby Phillips said she didn’t like portraying the president’s trip to El Paso as a photo shoot because of what’s happening in the border towns.
John Bresnahan joins CNN’s “Domestic Policy” to discuss President Biden’s visit to the border.
(Screenshot/CNN/InsidePolitics)
“There is such a situation at the border that sometimes you have to see it as a president to understand it,” he said.
John Bresnahan, founder of Punchbowl News, said the president’s reporting on the border was “really bad.”
“As Jeff said, their messaging has been really poor throughout their administration. They don’t really have a unified policy, at least they haven’t presented it,” he said.
CNN’s Kasi Hunt said Democrats now “own the problem.”
CNN’s Brian Stelter asked Biden adviser Gene Sperling if part of the problem with the media’s economic coverage is whether administration officials and TV anchors don’t feel the pain as much as the average American.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Border agents ‘frustrated’ as Biden prepares to finally visit besieged southern border
“It was relatively easy for Democrats to point out the inhumanity of many of Trump’s policies under Trump and with Republicans controlling certain segments of the government,” he said. “Democrats are in charge now, which means they own the problem. Democratic governors like Jared Polis of Colorado can raise flags and say, ‘Hey, this is a problem.'”
“The administration is now — they have to answer for this. So, yes, I think they’re going to get some pressure from the left for saying this policy is inhumane. But the bottom line is that they have to own it, if if it’s a widespread problem, it’s a political problem in 2024,” he said.
White House press secretary Carine Jean-Pierre blamed the Trump administration for the crisis at the southern border during a press conference on Friday.
President Joe Biden’s visit to Kentucky’s Brent Spence Bridge on Wednesday was used to highlight his administration’s infrastructure agenda.
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
“The president inherited a mess because of what the last administration did. We inherited a mess. You know, Republicans in Congress made it worse by blocking comprehensive immigration reform,” Jean-Pierre said. “And as you can see from this president, he’s working. He’s working to protect, to protect the border, to protect the border, and also to deal with irregular migration.”