Psaki Explains to Fox’s Doocy Why Biden’s ‘Drive Through’ the Border — In 2008 — Counts as a Visit
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki sparred with Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy on Friday over President Joe Biden not having been to the Southern Border yet.
During the town hall, Biden was asked by moderator Anderson Cooper when he will visit the Southern Border.
“I’ve been there before, I know it well, I guess I should go down,” said Biden. “The whole point of it is, I haven’t had a whole hell of a lot of time to get down.”
During the White House press briefing, Doocy asked Psaki why Biden said during the CNN town hall on Thursday that he has been to the border.
“Well, Peter, as you may have seen, there has been some reporting that he did drive through the border when he was on the campaign trail in 2008 and he is certainly familiar with the fact, and it’s stuck with him, with the fact in El Paso the border goes right through the center of town,” replied Psaki.
“But what the most important thing everyone should know and understand is that the president has worked on these issues throughout his entire career and is well-versed in every aspect of our immigration system, including the border,” she continued. “That includes when he was vice president and he went to Mexico and Central America 10 times to address border issues and talk about what we can do to reduce the number of migrants who are coming to the border.”
After mentioning that Biden has worked for bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform, Psaki said that Biden “does not need a visit to the border to know what a mess was left by” the Trump administration.
Doocy followed up and asked, “Does that count as a visit? He said, ‘I’ve been there before.’ You’re saying he drove by for a few minutes. Does that count?”
Psaki retorted and asked Doocy what is the root cause of people “coming to the border.” Doocy tried to push back, but Psaki answered for Doocy her own question with “Central America and Mexico.” She repeated that Biden has been to those places 10 times “to talk about border issues.”
“There is a focus right now on a photo op. The president does not believe a photo op is the same as solutions,” she continued. “That may be a difference he has with Republicans.”
