White House Press Sec Jen Psaki was beside herself. Peter Doocy, who she called a ‘stupid SOB’ hit her with the age-old question “why?”. Why does Biden have confidence in Kamala Harris and her ability to get control of the borders when she’s done such a horrific job, so far.
Psaki was so taken back that she tried to name a single accomplishment of Harris, but failed. Take a look:
Doocy: “Okay. And a question about immigration. Does the President still have confidence that the Vice President can get to the bottom of root causes of migration?
Psaki: He absolutely does and is grateful for her work in doing exactly that.
Doocy: Why?
Psaki: Why does he have confidence? Or — should I — should I give you an update on a couple of the things we’ve done?
Doocy: Well — so, does the President — what gives the President confidence when he sees that March 2022 has 28 percent more migrant encounters at the border than March 2021, when she got this assignment?
[Just a fair warning: Psaki is about to dance all around the issue and get absolutely nowhere. As per usual, Psaki promises Doocy that she will get to his question, but babbles her way around it.]
Psaki: Well, you asked me about root causes — right? — so let me address that first and what the Vice President and other members of the administration who have been working with her have been doing.
So we’ve been working with source and transit coun- — countries in the region to facilitate the quick return of individuals who previously resided in those countries, as well as to stem migration in its state. Some of that is getting agreements with partner countries on migration-related matters, and that’s something that the Vice President has been deeply engaged with.
I’d also note that Secretary Mayorkas — who, of course, has worked with her on this — traveled to Costa Rica recently, where he joined the President of Costa Rica in announcing a bilateral migration agreement outlining our shared commitment to both manage migrant flows, as well as to promote — promote economic growth in the region.
And we also are maintaining a close partnership between the government of Mexico and the United States to stem irregular migration.
So, there are — what “addressing root causes” means is working with countries in the region to take steps to have partnership, be able to have people sent back to the region as needed. ”
You can read more of their exchange on the White House website, but really this was the gold star for the evening. Psaki tried to spin the minor accomplishments of others as the work of Harris, but the proof is in the current state of things. Isn’t it?