On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” Washington Post Associate Editor and MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart responded to reports that President Joe Biden is considering stricter executive action on the border by stating that Biden has to “fudge” the line between him and 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on the issue of immigration and “what I also think he has going for him is, he gets to say, the Republicans made me do this.”
New York Times columnist David Brooks stated that “On this issue, Joe Biden does not want to draw a bright line. The country is with Donald Trump. If you ask who do you approve on different issues? On general competency, Trump is up by like 12 points. On who can handle the economy better, Trump is up by 25. On immigration, he’s up by 39 points. And so, this is an issue where you want to fudge that line.”
Co-host Amna Nawaz then asked, “Do these kinds of moves, Jonathan, further alienate members of that Biden coalition that helped get him to the White House in the first place?”
Capehart responded, “Well, that sort of answers the question. Yes, it does further alienate. But, I have to agree with David on this, that immigration is an issue that the President has to fudge this line. But what I also think he has going for him is, he gets to say, the Republicans made me do this. There was a bipartisan Senate immigration bill that never got a vote. I was in on the negotiations. They never gave us a vote. And so, we have to do something. And the election of Rep.-Elect Tom Suozzi (D-NY)…was a signal of how salient the immigration issue is.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
