Mehdi Hasan And Dan Crenshaw Have Explosive 17-Minute Clash on Border Crisis: ‘You Just Told a Lie!’

Sarah RumpfMar 21st, 2021, 9:31 pm
 

MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) had a spicy Twitter exchange Friday about the border crisis, and they turned up the heat on Hasan’s show. For nearly 17 minutes. But, hey, at least it ended cordially.

Hasan and Crenshaw’s Twitter battle covered several immigration-related topics, including the child separation policy of former President Donald Trump‘s administration and the recent surge of unaccompanied minors at the border.

Insults were tossed around — the Congressman called Hasan a “hack” at one point — but wrapped up with an agreement to take their debate to the television.

After Hasan confirmed that Crenshaw had not been one of the Republicans who voted against certifying Joe Biden‘s electoral college votes and he acknowledged that Biden had won the 2020 election — something that has remained surprisingly difficult to get some House Republicans to admit — the discussion turned contentious almost immediately.

They disagreed about whether the border crisis was Biden’s fault, whether the immigration numbers were trending up or down, and even spent some time quibbling over whether it should be called a “crisis.”

Hasan played a clip of Crenshaw’s recent remarks on Fox News, saying that his comments were “not true,” a claim to which Crenshaw objected, saying “I didn’t say that” repeatedly:

Hasan: I wonder why you went on Fox and said people are not being deported.

Crenshaw: I didn’t say that.

Hasan: …when 72% of people apprehended at the border were deported.

Crenshaw: I never said nobody was getting deported. So our system works fairly well. You just played what I said and I didn’t say that.

Hasan: I mean, you said — hold on. Hold on. You can’t — hold on. Hold on. ‘Biden has the nerve to say don’t come, wink. Don’t come here. We’re going to give you a bus ticket wherever you want. We’re not going to deport you.’

Crenshaw: That’s effectively — thank you for proving me right in saying I didn’t say he’s not deporting anybody. Let’s unpack this. Our system is still intact, still works okay. Single adults illegally crossing the border generally do get deported. Family units are much more difficult to deal with…

Hasan mentioned comments by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) saying that America had an “open border,” calling that “false” and “just a lie.” Again, Crenshaw objected:

Hasan: It cannot be an open border if 72% of people are removed. That’s nonsensical to claim that. You know that. I know that.

Crenshaw: But again, you’re arguing with people…I would say there’s an effective open border. That’s what I would say. If you want to accuse somebody else of saying things — you haven’t been able to fact check me on it, because I haven’t said it.

Hasan: I’m fact checking you now. It’s not an open border if the vast number of people get expelled.

The debate got fiery again regarding the issue of unaccompanied minors, with Hasan disagreeing with Crenshaw’s interpretation of how Title 42 of the U.S. Code had been operating.

“You just told a lie,” Crenshaw fired back. “You need to talk to border patrol and see what the actual process was.”

Hasan: You are in favor of throwing them out? Are you telling the truth? Are you in favor of expelling unaccompanied minors, yes or no?

Crenshaw: Would you like to change the law under Title 42? Let’s argue about that.

Hasan: I’m happy that Joe Biden is not expelling children. Are you happy about that?

Crenshaw: I don’t think young — I think young children who are truly orphaned at our border, we can take care of them and put them through Health and Human Services. I want to give you another statistic, though. Seventy five percent of the supposed unaccompanied supposed minors are over 15 years old and vast majority are males. This is military age in a lot of countries south of the border.

The discussion frequently degraded into crosstalk, with more accusations back and forth of misstatements, “you’re not listening,” and “are you confused?”

And then, finally, “We’re out of time,” said Hasan, “Thank you for accepting my invitation to come on the show tonight.”

“Any time,” replied Crenshaw.

“Thank you for your time,” said Hasan again.

“Any time,” repeated Crenshaw. “Thanks for having me.”

Watch the video clips above, via MSNBC.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.