Recently, like clockwork, Speaker of the House and Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson showed up at the southern border with a group clearly intending to primarily draw attention to what Republicans continue to characterize as an “invasion,” using distracting, inaccurate language that antagonizes asylum-seekers while skipping past their real-world, humanitarian needs.
And making the point clearer, Johnson said in an interview with CNN during this trip that he completely rejected the prospect of a $14 billion funding package to support border efforts that was proposed by the Biden admin. The money represented a possibility of at least partially expanding the capacity of border enforcement personnel in the federal government to handle the dangerous drug fentanyl and face human traffickers operating in the area, besides boosting support for processing individuals seeking asylum. And Johnson’s response? A straightforward rejection.
“Border visit/stunt gone bad: instead of working in DC with a team of Senators to find border answers, the Republican Speaker leads a trip to border,spending lots of taxpayer money to do..nothing. We all know there are border issues so come back to DC & WORK for a change!” Barbara Boxer, a Democrat who was formerly a U.S. Senator from California, said on X (the platform previously called Twitter).
Asked during that CNN discussion at one point about prospects for progress in border policy, Johnson ignored the substance of the query and insisted that President Joe Biden should show up at the border… which he has, in fact, done. Host Jake Tapper pointed out as much, and Johnson pivoted to acknowledging the president’s previous visit but calling it a mere photo op. Meanwhile, Tapper also laid out some of the substance of what the White House was actually proposing.
“There also would be 1,300 more Border Patrol agents to work alongside the 20,200. And also, funding to hire 1,000 Customs and Border Protection officers with a focus on counter fentanyl,” Tapper said. “So it’s not all — in fact most of it is not related to processing asylum-seekers. A lot of it has to do with what you’re talking about.”
