MSNBC anchor Chuck Todd appeared to have a difficult time accepting Vice President Kamala Harris’ assertion that the U.S.-Mexico border was secure.
Harris gave an interview with Todd that aired during Sunday mornings’ broadcast of “Meet the Press,” and she claimed that the immigration system was broken but that the border was secure — despite the fact that, as Todd quickly pointed out, two million were expected to cross the border for the first time in history.
WATCH:
"We’re gonna have 2 million people cross this border for the first time ever." Chuck Todd doesn't appear to buy VP Harris' claim that the border is secure. pic.twitter.com/7K6Txsxc0Z
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) September 11, 2022
Todd broached the topic as the wide-ranging interview came to a close, saying, “Final topic here. We’re here in Texas, I want to ask you about the border. Would you call the border secure?”
“I think that there is no question that we have to do what the president and I asked Congress to do. The first request we made, pass a bill to create a pathway to citizenship,” Harris began before answering the question directly. “The border is secure, but we also have a broken immigration system, in particular over the last four years before we came in, and it needs to be fixed.”
“We’re gonna have 2 million people cross this border for the first time ever. You’re confident this border is secure?” Todd challenged.
“We have a secure border in that that is a priority for any nation, including ours and our administration,” Harris continued, pivoting then to attempt to blame the present situation on former President Donald Trump. “But there are still a lot of problems that we are trying to fix. Given the deterioration that happened over the last four years.”
Harris concluded by once again calling for a “pathway for citizenship” and arguing that the only reason that had not yet been done was that the leadership in border states — which happens to be primarily Republican — was “playing politics” with people’s lives.
“We also have to put in place a law and a plan for a pathway for citizenship for the millions of people who are here and are prepared to do what is legally required to gain citizenship. We don’t have that in place because people are playing politics in a state like this [Texas] and in Congress — by the way, you want to talk about bipartisanship, on an issue that at one time was a bipartisan issue. Both in terms of Republican senators and even presidents.”