New Mexico rancher says Kamala Harris 'absolutely pandering' by signaling support for border wall

Russell Johnson says unused border wall materials sitting near his property since Biden and Harris took office

Kamala Harris flip-flops on border wall stance

New Mexico rancher Russell Johnson says Kamala Harris is pandering for votes and questions why the Biden-Harris administration refused to continue border wall construction, adding he doesn’t believe Harris would secure the border if elected.

VP Kamala Harris is facing criticism and being accused of pandering for changing her messaging on the border wall ahead of the presidential election. 

"These Democrats, as we start getting closer to an election, they start sounding more and more like Republicans," New Mexico rancher Russell Johnson said on "Fox & Friends First" Wednesday. 

Seemingly recognizing that being too progressive on immigration could be politically harmful, Harris has pledged to spend hundreds of millions on the wall along the southern border, which she has previously spoken out against, if she is elected president, according to Axios.

Johnson questioned why, despite Harris' recent claims, construction of the border wall hasn't continued under the Biden-Harris administration. He said materials for the border barrier have been sitting unused near his property since the Biden administration began.

"This administration has been in charge for the past three and a half years, and this material's been there for more than four years. Why haven't they installed it?"

"She's absolutely pandering for votes. She's been the border czar for the past three and a half years, and we've seen no action on the border, other than this administration stopping any kind of progress that's actually going to bring some safety and security to this nation."

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Since Fox Digital spoke with residents along the southern border, Harris changed her prior tone on the border wall.

At the DNC, Harris said she would sign the bipartisan Senate border bill that Trump did not support. The bill would require hundreds of millions of unspent funds to be used on the border wall. However, according to Harris' advisers, the bill does not provide additional funding for the border wall.

Trump and several Republicans slammed the bill for a provision that includes shutting down the border only when 5,000 illegal immigrants a day cross the border, as well as the billions of dollars of spending attached that goes to Ukraine and Israel. 

Nearly 9 in 10 voters say the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border is an emergency (44%) or a major problem (43%). That’s an increase since February, when about 8 in 10 felt it was an emergency (41%) or major problem (37%), according to the latest Fox News national survey.

Harris has previously called Trump's border wall "a medieval vanity project" and argued it will not make the country safer.

Fox News' Adam Shaw and Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.

Elizabeth Heckman is a digital production assistant with Fox News.

Authored by Elizabeth Heckman via FoxNews August 28th 2024