Jake Tapper Flies Wingman for Biden's Border Crisis, Gets Fact-Checked Into Next Week by Speaker Johnson

Jim Croce famously sang: "You Don't Mess Around With Jim." CNN anchor Jake Tapper learned on Wednesday: "You don't mess around with Mike" — House Speaker Mike Johnson, that is. As Tapper desperately tried to defend Joe Biden's intentional border crisis, Johnson simply kept bringing facts.

By the time the segment ended, Tapper and CNN looked exactly like what they are: Biden mouthpieces. Nothing more, nothing less.

Johnson and more than 60 House Republicans traveled to border town Eagle Pass, Texas, on Wednesday to witness the deteriorating crisis firsthand — as Biden continues to seek Republican support for additional aid for Ukraine and Israel in their respective wars. But Johnson continues to insist that the embattled president must first stop the virtual free flow of illegal aliens streaming across the border.

If President Biden wants a supplemental spending bill focused on national security, it better begin by defending America's national security. It begins right here on our southern border.

Later on Wednesday, Biden lackey Tapper tried to play whataboutism with Johnson, suggesting that former President Donald Trump was also ineffectual in his handling of the southern border.

The festivities began with Johnson telling Tapper that Biden needs to visit the border for real — not just for a photo-op.

"I think he went last year. I think he went last year, just FYI," Tapper claimed.

Johnson would have none of it:

Well, he went for a photo-op. He should come and spend a couple [of] days like we have, to be with the people here on the ground who are fighting this war on the border. That's effectively what it is.

As my colleague Nick Arama reported in January 2023, a photo-op is exactly what Biden did.

Johnson then turned to the number of illegal aliens who have entered the U.S. under Biden — estimates range from seven million to over nine million — and the corresponding national security concern: hundreds of the illegals were on the terrorist watchlist. Tapper immediately got defensive.

There aren't hundreds of known terrorists getting into the country. There are people whose [identities] have been flagged on a certain database. I just don't want people out there thinking that 200 members of Hamas have flown into the country and we don't even know about it. I'm not saying that it's not serious, I'm just saying these aren't necessarily terrorists.

Minimize much, Jake? About hundreds of illegal aliens on the terrorist watchlist, no less?

Johnson fired back:

That's the terrorist watchlist, Jake. It takes quite a bit to make that list, OK. These are dangerous people who are coming to the country.

Bingo.

Tapper Plays the "Oh, Yeah? What About Trump?" Card

Johnson told the exasperated CNN host that the border could be sealed "overnight," adding: "The president has the existing authority under existing federal law to do that, and he refuses to do it."

Tapper predictably responded with a shot at Trump:

The argument is that there is only so much a president can do, even Donald Trump could not seal the border. It's really up to Congress.

At one point, grasping at straws, Tapper either lied or was terribly confused about the position of the U.S. Border Patrol on the Biden Border Crisis, claiming Border Patrol agents want additional funding to make "their job a little easier for the next month."

Johnson shot back:

No, actually, they don't. I just quoted to the deputy chief of [the] U.S. Border Patrol. And he said he doesn't need more buckets. In other words, he doesn't need more personnel to handle the flow. He needs to turn the flow off.
That's what we're talking about. This is not about sending more money down here. It's about changing the policy, and the White House seems not to understand that.

Tapper's response? Guess.