Senator Joe Manchin criticized President Biden’s handling of the border crisis, saying Biden has been wrong on the issue.
While Manchin acknowledged Biden recently engaged on it after Republican pressure, Manchin believed the border crisis is the president’s responsibility to address.
“I came to the conclusion that after I saw what happened…ten days ago or so, when the vote [in] the Senate for security of the border…which is what our Republican colleagues desired to happen, they pressed that. And they said, we’re not going to vote on any aid until we secure our border,” Manchin said.
Manchin agreed with Republican senators who refused further COVID aid votes until border security was addressed.
He praised a negotiated bill providing border security, ending catch and release, changing asylum definitions, and personnel, but criticized misrepresentations that it would allow 5,000 border crossings daily.
“I agreed with them. I think President Biden has been wrong on the border. It’s his responsibility, no matter what his reasoning was, to maybe help people around the world who’ve been displaced by the pandemic. But he’s come to the table now. He understands the gravity of what we’re dealing with and the danger, and he’s willing to accept and he helped negotiate a very good bill that secures the border, stops catch and release, changes the asylum definition, gives us the personnel,” he said.
“And they took one thing out of that, Kaitlan, they took one thing, and the number 5,000 is what you heard. And all they said, oh, that’s 5,000 a day. They’re going to let 5,000 a day. That’s the furthest thing from the truth. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), the most decent, honorable person and conservative in the entire Senate, negotiated and he wanted to make sure that 5,000 is all we can ever adjudicate,” he said.
Manchin called the border a crisis and was disappointed some Democratic colleagues backed away from earlier support for border security due to pressure from former President Trump.
“The border is a crisis, and I saw my friends walk away when they were determined to pass border security and they were onboard three days before that. And with Donald Trump, coming as hard as he came at them, they cowered down and walked away, I said, we’re not fixing anything in Washington,” he said.
Most Popular:
FBI Informant Who Criticized Biden Gets Bad News
Drag Queen Principal Learns His Fate Amid Controversy
