Vice President Kamala Harris stumbled over the Biden-Harris administration’s border and immigration policies when pressed about the border crisis during a CNN town hall moderated by Anderson Cooper.
“Let’s talk about this compromise bill that you want to pass if you’re elected. You said it will be a priority. It includes $650 million in funding for the border wall. That’s something Republicans wanted and that was part of the compromise. Under Donald Trump, you criticized the wall more than 50 times, calling it a “stupid, useless, medieval vanity project.” Is a border wall stupid? Cooper asked Harris on Wednesday.
“Let’s talk about Donald Trump on that border wall,” Harris said with a laugh. “So remember, Donald Trump said Mexico would pay for it. Come on, they didn’t. How much of that wall did he build? I think the last figure I saw was about 2%. And then when it came time for him to do a photo shoot, you know, where did he do it? On the part of the wall that President Obama built.”
“But you accepted a bill that would allocate $650 million to continue building that,” Cooper pressed.
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ASTON, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 23: Democratic presidential candidate US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as CNN moderator Anderson Cooper looks on during a presidential town hall event at Sun Center Studios on October 23, 2024 in Aston, Pennsylvania. With less than two weeks until Election Day, Harris spent the day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, visiting the famous 4th Street delicatessen to greet her supporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
“I promise that I will introduce that bipartisan bill to further strengthen and secure our border. Yes, I will, and I will work across both parties to pass a comprehensive bill that addresses a broken immigration system.” Harris responded.
“We need a president who is based on common sense and practical results, like, let’s just fix this. Let’s just fix it. Why is there any ideological perspective on this? Let’s just fix the problem,” he continued.
Vice President Kamala Harris joined CNN for a town hall event Wednesday night, speaking to Pennsylvania voters outside Philadelphia. The town hall event began at 9 p.m. Wednesday in Chester Township, located less than 20 miles from Philadelphia.
Cooper asked Harris earlier at the town hall to explain why he simply Weeks before the first presidential debate with President Biden was yet to take place this summer, the administration instituted executive actions that curbed illegal border crossings and had not issued such orders before.
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ASTON, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 23: Democratic presidential candidate US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a CNN presidential town hall at Sun Center Studios on October 23, 2024 in Aston, Pennsylvania. With less than two weeks until Election Day, Harris spent the day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, visiting the famous 4th Street delicatessen to greet her supporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
“You’re absolutely right, Anderson. And as of today, we’ve cut the flow of immigration by more than half. In fact, the numbers I’ve seen most recently are illegal immigration,” Harris told Cooper.
“If it were that easy without executive action, why not do it in 2022, 2023?” Cooper pressed.
“Because we were working with Congress and we were hoping that we could actually have a long-term solution to the problem rather than a short-term solution,” Harris responded.
Border Patrol picks up a group of asylum seekers from a relief camp on the U.S.-Mexico border near Sasabe, Arizona, U.S., on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. During the first four months of the year Fiscal 2024, the Border Patrol recorded more than 250,000 migrant apprehensions in the Tucson sector of Arizona, the most of any region patrolled by the agency, according to federal government statistics, CBS reports. Photographer: Justin Hamel/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Justin Hamel/Getty Images)
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“You couldn’t have done one and both at the same time,” Cooper said.
Cooper went on to ask Harris if he wished he had. ““He made those executive orders in 2022, 2023,” prompting Harris to say she believes the administration “did the right thing.”
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“I think we did the right thing. And the best thing that can happen to the American people is that we have bipartisan work. And I promise you that I will work across both parties to solve this long-standing problem. I think the American people are demanding it, in both sides of the aisle,” he responded.
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