Vice President Kamala Harris became visibly frustrated during an interview with Spanish media on Thursday after they pressed her on when she plans to visit the U.S.-Mexico border to see Biden’s border crisis firsthand.
The interaction, which came during an interview with Univision anchor Ilia Calderón, followed a rocky week for Harris as she repeatedly struggled during her trip throughout Central America.
“I’ve said I’m going to the border,” Harris told the anchor. “And I-”
“When are you going to the border, Vice President?” Calderón responded.
“I’m not finished,” Harris fired back. “I’ve said I’m going to the border.”
WATCH:
In fairness, I did not have @VP Kamala Harris hitting @iliacalderon with "I'm speaking" on my bingo card. pic.twitter.com/trCWiRxkft
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) June 10, 2021
The interaction continued:
HARRIS: And also if we are going to deal with the problems at the border, we have to deal with the problems that cause people to go to the border, to flee to the border. So my first trip as vice president of the United States was to go- in terms of a foreign trip- to Guatemala, to be on the ground there to address and to be informed of the root causes why are the people of Guatemala leaving.
CALDERON: Do you have a date for your trip to the border?
HARRIS: I will keep you posted.
The week started off on a bad foot for Harris after she suggested that going to the border was nothing more than a “grand gesture” after being pressed by a reporter in Guatemala.
Later in the week, Harris was grilled by NBC News host Lester Holt over the same issue:
LESTER HOLT: Why will it be successful this time if it wasn’t in the past?
KAMALA HARRIS: Well, I think there was success about what happened in the past. And again, when you look at what we’re doing now you’re seeing progress. And so let’s not overlook progress.
HOLT: Let me just quickly put a button. Do you have any plans to visit the border?
HARRIS: At some point, you know, we are going to the border. We’ve been to the border. So this whole thing about the border. We’ve been to the border. We’ve been to the border.
HOLT: You haven’t been to the border.
HARRIS: And I haven’t been to Europe. And I mean, I don’t understand the point that you’re making. I’m not discounting the importance of the border.
Harris again struggled to respond to another reporter when pressed on the matter of when she would visit the border.
“The issue of root causes, is not going to be solved in one trip that took two days,” Harris responded. “This is an issue that is long standing, is in many cases generational. It is not a new issue for the United States, to feel the effects of those root causes on our shores. It is not new, for us to experience that people will come to the United States if they are fleeing situations where they cannot feed their children.”
“So this work is the work that must be done with a commitment to going deep and making the commitment over a period of time knowing that nothing that we can do will address it overnight,” she continued. “So that is my perspective on this issue. And I am committed to doing what is necessary in the time that we have to deal with the complexities of this. It will do a disservice to the issue itself, the issue at the border. It would do a disservice to the issue itself if that is the issue that that concerns some, to address the root causes as though it’s something that can be dealt with overnight.”
Related: Biden Border Crisis Sinks To Worst Level In DHS History, Explodes 674% Over Last Year