The two likely 2024 White House opponents made dueling trips to the southern border in Texas yesterday. Former President Donald Trump went to Eagle Pass while Biden visited Brownsville, but both used the opportunity to address the border crisis.
Biden tried to shove the problem on conservatives in Congress, blaming them for not passing the border legislation from earlier this year.
The president also cast himself as a bridge-builder, even calling upon former President Donald Trump to join him in solving the problem. According to Biden, the proper way forward would be for Trump to advocate for the passage of the long-stalled border security bill.
But Trump, speaking alongside Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, said the crisis was nothing short of “a Joe Biden invasion.”
Trump’s appearance at the border was partly to capitalize on Biden’s abysmal record there. Trump leaned into underlying anger felt by a portion of Americans with regard to the grislier effects of an unprotected border.
Laken Riley, the late nurse who was murdered in Georgia, allegedly by an illegal migrant, factored heavily in Trump’s remarks. The former president described speaking with Riley’s family.
But oddly enough, neither Trump nor Biden gave the most forceful statement of the day. Instead, that award goes to National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd, who appeared alongside Trump in Eagle Pass. When Trump offered to allow Judd to speak, the union head laid out his frustrations in dealing with the current administration.
All of this comes as recent polls show that U.S. border security is the top concern of voters this election year.