CNN’s Jim Sciutto Pushes Back on Sen. Chris Murphy Blaming Border Chaos on Republicans: ‘Is That Fair?’
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) offered multiple lengthy defenses of President Joe Biden and Democrats on the handling of the border crisis, but the senator trying to push complete blame on Republicans appeared to go a bit too far for CNN’s Jim Sciutto.
The CNN host highlighted asked Murphy if Democrats “bear” any responsibility for the crisis at the border and the bitter legal battle over policies like Title 42.
“Do Democrats bear responsibility, some responsibility, for failing to enact reforms that would have helped address the situation at the southern border?” Sciutto asked.
“I think all 50 Democrats in the Senate support immigration reform as you mentioned. The problem is we do not have enough Republicans to get it done,” Murphy said, going on to claim Democrats can’t get enough Republican lawmakers to support immigration reform.
Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced a bipartisan immigration reform bill recently, but negotiations stalled before there was a chance for it to pass before the end of the session.
Murphy also claimed Republicans oppose approving further funding for the border and predicted “scenes of chaos” in the new year that will be the GOP’s fault.
“So you’re just going to see scenes of chaos at the border in January and February and that is going to be in large part because Republicans aren’t allowing us enough funding to deal with these increased numbers,” the senator said.
Sciutto pushed back, noting Biden could be doing more “independently” on the issue.
“But is that fair?” he asked. “You got the president. The president has things that he could do independently of broader reform which — trust me, I know, and I’ve covered it for years — it is just tough to get it through the Hill. Shared responsibility, is there not?”
Murphy breathlessly defended his party again, claiming former President Donald Trump may have overstepped his authority with Title 42.
“The law allows for anybody presenting themselves at the southern border to apply for asylum and stay in the United States while they make that case and that claim,” he said. “Many of us would argue that President Trump went above his statutory authority in denying many people the right to make that claim.”
Watch above via CNN
