Vice President Kamala Harris is set to finally face her fears and make her first visit to the southern border on Friday, likely inspired by former President Donald Trump’s announcement last week of his plan to visit the southern border and witness the crisis that has developed after he left office.
Harris is set to visit the border as illegal immigration levels have been at a 20 year high for three consecutive months, a worsening crisis that began under the Biden administration. Despite Harris being placed in charge of handling the crisis, this will be her first time visiting the border, an absence she has defended by pointing out she also has “not been to Europe.”
Harris, who has been placed in charge of the U.S.-Mexico border and not Europe, “has come under heavy criticism from Republicans and some Democrats for the way she has handled the role since being appointed to it 91 days ago. While the White House has emphasized she is tasked with the ‘root causes’ of the border crisis, Republicans have criticized her repeatedly for not having visited the border at all – with former Trump officials saying she needs to go to the border in order to be able to conduct the talks effectively,” Fox News reported.
The Vice President’s sudden burst of courage seems to be fueled by Trump’s announcement last week that he would be visiting the border with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, likely creating an internal crisis over her worry that Trump visiting before her could damage her public image – the difference in this crisis being that it is not one she could ignore.
Fmr. Pres. Trump responds to VP Harris’ border trip announcement: pic.twitter.com/jZT6PUa7YR
— Jenn Franco KESQ (@jennfranconews) June 23, 2021
“After months of ignoring the crisis at the Southern Border, it is great that we got Kamala Harris to finally go and see the tremendous destruction and death they’ve created — a direct result of Biden ending my very tough but fair Border policies,” the former President said in a statement. “Harris and Biden were given the strongest Border in American history. And now, it is by far the worst in American history.”
“If Governor Abbott and I weren’t going there next week, she would have never gone!” Trump said.
