Trump bashes Harris on immigration as presidential race takes shape
Former President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday the country will be "permanently destroyed" if Vice President Kamala Harris becomes president.
On a call with reporters, Trump attacked Harris as a “radical-left person” and ineffective “border czar,” although Harris has never held that title.
Trump hammered Harris on immigration a day after she received enough delegates to become the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee.
Republicans have been quick to attack Harris for her role in handling the Biden administration’s immigration portfolio. Her role included working with Central American countries to address the root causes of immigration, but she was never given a “border czar” label or tasked with handling migrant surges at the border.
“If she becomes president, Kamala Harris will make the invasion exponentially worse. And just like she did with San Francisco, just like she did with the border, our whole country will be permanently destroyed,” Trump said. “I will seal the border, stop the invasion and keep America safe."
Trump spoke to reporters by telephone to slam Harris, who became his likely opponent after President Joe Biden ended his presidential campaign. He also committed to debating Harris, saying he views presidential debates as an important obligation but is “not thrilled” about ABC hosting their face-off.
“I would be willing to do more than one debate, actually,” Trump said.
The former Republican president criticized Harris for visiting the border “only a single time, far away from the epicenter of the invasion."
The comment was a reference to Harris’ first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021. Harris went to Texas to tour the El Paso Border Patrol station and the El Paso del Norte Port of Entry after facing criticism from Republicans who accused her of avoiding the border.
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“You don't even call it a visit,” Trump said. “She went to a place that has no problem, and was there for a very short period of time. So essentially, she never visited the border as we know it.”
The Harris campaign did not comment on Trump's broadside.
Despite attacks by Republicans, migrant apprehensions have actually dropped more than 40% after Biden signed an executive order restricting asylum at the southern border. Biden, who is no longer a candidate for reelection, also signed another executive order in June to protect spouses and children of U.S. citizens who do not have legal status in the country, granting permanent residency to them in an accelerated manner without them having to leave the country.
The Trump campaign is recalibrating its approach after Biden stepped aside and as Harris prepares to take his place at the top of the ticket.
Harris had a narrow lead over Trump in a Reuters/Ipsos national poll conducted after Biden stepped away from the race, a shift from Trump’s dominance over Biden in presidential polling. Harris had 44% of support to Trump’s 42%. When third party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was added into the mix, Harris had 42% and Trump had 38% of support.
Those numbers could shift in either direction as voters adjust to a new Democratic presidential candidate. Trump campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio threw cold water on the data Tuesday in a memo, calling an anticipated boost in the vice president’s poll numbers the "Harris Honeymoon" period.
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“Given what has happened over the past couple of days and her impending VP choice, there is no question that Harris will get her bump earlier than the Democrat’s Convention. And that bump is likely to start showing itself over the next few days and will last a while until the race settles back down. The Democrats and the MSM will try and tout these polls as proof that the race has changed. But the fundamentals of the race stay the same,” he wrote.
Brandon Judd, the former president of the National Border Patrol Council, joined Trump’s media call to attack Harris on immigration. Judd spent an early part of his career as a border patrol agent in the border city of Naco and served as president of the largest Border Patrol Local in Tucson. He described a violent scene at the southern border.
“VP Harris knows the solutions, but she refuses to implement them,” Judd said. “Leaving me to conclude she is either politically power hungry for the base support, or she is dangerously incompetent. I conclude that it’s both.”
Lawmakers negotiated a sweeping bipartisan immigration bill this year that would have allowed the federal government to shut down asylum processing during high levels of migration at the border. Republicans backed away from the legislation after Trump criticized it on social media in part to deny Biden a legislative win in an election year. The Biden executive order, which he issued months after the legislation failed, allows border officials to expel migrants without a chance for asylum when the number of crossings averages 2,500 per day.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump attacks Harris' stand on border issues and immigration policy
