President Joe Biden made headlines in an ABC News interview on Tuesday by telling migrants, “Don’t come over.”
The moment: But what Biden said next got less mainstream media coverage, and was in many cases completely ignored.
- “We’re in the process of getting set up,” the president added. “Don’t leave your town, or city or community.”
The message: Amid a growing crisis on the southern border, the Biden administration has repeatedly asked migrants to stop traveling to the U.S. — but has also suggested the request is only temporary and somehow the fault of former President Donald Trump.
- Earlier Tuesday, Biden’s interviewer, George Stephanopoulos, asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, “Does the message have to be don’t come, period?”
- “Well, I think, actually … Don’t come now,” Mayorkas said. “Give us the time to rebuild the system that was entirely dismantled in the prior administration.”
The criticism: Republicans have said the unprecedented surge of border crossings, mostly by unaccompanied minors, and overwhelmed detention facilities are a direct result of Biden’s pro-immigration rhetoric and his rollback of Trump’s hardline policies.
- Trump complained to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday that Biden has “eroded” his accomplishments on border security, saying, “They are going to destroy our country if we don’t do something about it.”
Biden, in the ABC News interview, said his critics think migrants are coming to the border “because they know I’m a nice guy.”
- “Here’s the deal,” he countered. “They’re not.”
