As we’ve previously reported, the border crisis has consumed the DC press corps over the last several weeks, with even some of the more Democrat-friendly media outlets raising questions on what the Biden administration intends on doing to address the worsening situation as well as demanding to know why media access to migrant facilities has been denied.
During today’s White House press briefing, Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy gave a clinic on how to press an evasive administration on specifics concerning a serious issue that impacts everyone in this country. Specifically, Doocy asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki about the surge of migrant children at the border and if Biden had any concerns about whether overcrowded pods where 400 children were being squeezed into pods that were meant for 260 could lead to a COVID superspreader event.
After Psaki stated that the administration was having them tested and quarantined if they were confirmed positive, she also claimed that they were “following CDC guidelines” to keep them safe.
But Doocy wasn’t buying it. “But where else in the country would it be okay to have 400 people in a space for 260 during the pandemic?” Doocy inquired.
Psaki again invoked CDC guidelines but before she could finish, Doocy interjected by pointing out that he didn’t think there was anything in the CDC guidelines about allowing that amount of people to be crammed into such a small space at one time.
After Psaki proclaimed that the public health of all people including migrants at the border was a priority for the administration, Doocy pushed back and noted that the policies she described as helping try to avoid a COVID outbreak simply were not happening at the “first stop” (the border patrol facilities) which he pointed out is under the control of the federal government.
A visibly flustered Psaki continued to spout the same talking points she’d previously given Doocy. Watch:
.@pdoocy presses Jen Psaki on why @JoeBiden has completely flip-flopped on immigration. pic.twitter.com/f5vDIvJtzA
— MRCTV (@mrctv) March 22, 2021
At another point during their exchange, Doocy questioned Psaki on why it is that Biden’s position on illegal immigration changed from when he was a candidate for president (urging migrants to surge the border) to now where he’s telling them not to come here. Her ridiculous response was to claim Biden had been taken out of context. Watch:
Fox News’ Peter Doocy challenges WH Press Sec. Jen Psaki on overcrowded border facilities: "Where else in the country would it be okay to have 400 people in a space for 260 during the pandemic? pic.twitter.com/GIGssBsGRJ
— TV News HQ (@TVNewsHQ) March 22, 2021
Basically, what Doocy did was to get Psaki to inadvertently confirm that Biden now fully owns the situation at the border and that falling back on blaming the previous administration won’t cut it, both in regard to the possibility of a COVID outbreak (which apparently has already happened) as well as having to make adjustments in your policy in the middle of a pandemic after promising for months that you’d roll out the red carpet for migrants.
Joe Biden’s pre-election open-borders positions and his rollbacks of numerous Trump administration immigration policies – including ending the “Remain in Mexico” policy in February – have had disastrous consequences. This is on Biden and Biden alone, and no amount of “but Trump!” is going to cut it here. Trump’s policies were designed to quell a border surge. Biden’s were the polar opposite and initially designed to flood the gates. Those are the inconvenient facts of the matter, no matter what Democrats including Psaki and Biden would like people to think otherwise.
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