‘That’s Literally Not True!’ Pete Buttigieg Throws Down With CNBC’s Joe Kernen About Border Blame

CNBC’s Joe Kernen and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg threw down on Tuesday when the border crisis was brought up and Buttigieg laid blame on Donald Trump for the death of a recent bipartisan border bill.

While making the media rounds ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, Buttigieg stopped by Squawk Box on CNBC to tout infrastructure and economic wins by the administration. When he brought up the border and blamed Trump for killing it, Kernen pushed back.

“That didn’t come until it was clear it was going to become a major campaign issue and only then did the Biden administration get interested in it,” Kernen said about the border bill.

The bill has failed to get more support from Republican lawmakers as they claim Biden already has the authority to do much of what is in the legislation, such as shutting down the southern border.

Kernen argued on Tuesday that there is a “disconnect” between how the administration describes the border situation and how many Americans see it.

“Every time we hear those talking points that suddenly it was Republicans who ruined the border — that’s why people get so frustrated,” he said. “We know what President Biden said about inviting people in. We know that he got rid of the things that were keeping the border closed that President Trump had put in. We know that he got rid of all of those, so when you say it’s not his fault.”

“That’s literally not true! It’s literally not true,” Buttigieg jumped in, the pair immediately getting into crosstalk.

Kernan noted the rise in illegal migrants under Biden, while Buttigieg only acknowledged that the administration ended the “policy to tear children out of the arms of their parents.” The separation policy was highly controversial under Trump, but current border standards are also under scrutiny from critics. National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd recently claimed DNA testing has been completely done away with leading to heightened concerns about trafficking making it through the border.

Critics have also called for a return of Title 42, which came to an end under the Biden administration, to help curb record numbers at the border.

“He got rid of the policy to tear children out of the arms of their parents, that’s true, but it is not true some of the other things that have been suggested,” Buttigieg said.

He continued blaming congressional Republicans for consistently calling for action on the border, but refusing to support the latest bipartisan legislation for fear it may hand the president a political win on an issue that’s been central to Trump’s policies since he first entered the political arena.

“This is part of the problem and why there’s a disconnect,” Kernen declared to Buttigieg.

Buttigieg pushed forward and continued arguing that Republicans are weaponizing the border in an election year.

“I really believe we’ve gotten to the point where many congressional Republicans find it so useful as a cudgel that they would rather keep the problem going for political uses than solve the problem and risk the chance that the president shares in the credit for that in the same way that we see some of them,” he said.

Kernen argued the administration is failing to “own” the issue and take charge, chalking it up to a blame game the public is not interested in.

“I just — the reason that some of these numbers stay where they are is because it just seems like instead of actually owning some of the issues that we have, instead of acknowledging that maybe the president has lost the step, the administration keeps saying don’t believe your lying eyes, and that’s why you’re at 18 percent —” he said before Buttigieg jumped in.

“Respectfully Joe, I think congressional Republicans are saying don’t believe your lying eyes, which is why they’re polling at about 15 percent right now,” he said.

Kernen declared Congress “is not running for president,” while Buttigieg touted positive job numbers. When he again blamed Trump for killing the border bill, Kernen readied to move on, saying, “We’ll see whether this moves the needle. I just think the American public wants something that benefits them.”

Watch above via CNBC.