Gov. Gretchen Whitmer defended the Biden administration’s handling of immigration when asked if Democrats had waited too long to address the issue.
While refusing to directly answer that question, she stated that everyone had waited too long to solve immigration problems vexing the country.
Whitmer argued the Biden administration put a serious solution on the table but Republicans in Congress walked away from it.
NBC News Senior White House Correspondent Gabe Gutierrez said, “[T]he White House announced that President Biden is heading down to the border on Thursday. Former President Trump will also be at a different part of the border on Thursday.
“What do you make of that, and has the Biden administration taken the issue of immigration seriously enough?” he asked Whitmer.
Whitmer replied, “The Biden administration actually put a solution on the table, and the Republican Congress walked away from it. The best solution that has been offered in decades was on the table, and the Republicans walked away. I think it is abhorrent that you’ve got a political party in this country that is more interested in scoring political points than actually solving a problem that this nation needs solved.”
Gutierrez asked separately, “Did Democrats wait too long to seize on the immigration issue?”
Whitmer answered, “I am not going to be able to answer that question other than to say everyone has waited too long.”
“This is a problem that has vexed our country for a long, long time,” she continued.
She added, “I am proud that President Biden was the one that put a real solution on the table, and we need to pressure Congress, both parties, to get to that table and get it done.”
She criticized the GOP for being more interested in political points than actually solving the issue, saying the nation needs resolution.
Overall, Whitmer portrayed the administration as having taken action and proposed real solutions, placing blame on Republicans for not accepting proposals that could have made progress after decades of failure by all sides to find an answer.
