Trump slams Biden on border security in visit
Former President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas denounced the Biden administration during a visit to the border Wednesday, reiterating one of Republicans’ most frequent lines of attack.
Abbott and other officials described the border situation to Trump as though briefing a sitting president. Several House Republicans traveled to the border for Trump’s visit, missing a vote in the House on establishing a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
“The people of Texas have been pleading for us to be able to step up and help restore safety and security in their lives,” Abbott said. “That is exactly why Texas is stepping up and doing a job that is truly the federal government’s job, a job that you did but a job that the Biden administration is completely failing.”
Trump defended his handling of the border while president and falsely claimed that the wall he promised to build across the 2,000-mile border had been months away from completion when he left office. The Trump administration built 450 miles of border wall, nearly all of it in areas where dilapidated barriers existed or vehicle barriers had once stood.
Joe Biden halted wall construction on his first day as president.
“Now we have an open, really dangerous border,” Trump said.
The issue of border security has dogged the Biden administration as border crossings have surged. Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden put in charge of addressing the root causes of migration, traveled to El Paso, her first visit to the border since she took office.