The Senate worked on what was supposed to be a national security/foreign aid bill for months with all sorts of unrealistic, hoped for timelines. There was supposed to be border security in the bill, but it was so disastrous, that Senate Republicans killed that part days after the text was finally released last month, even after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) initially had positive things to say. We have Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and Chris Murphy (D-CT) to thank for such a bipartisan debacle, with Murphy in particular getting angry about the provision's failure.
In addition to his mean posts over his X account, including where he screams "bulls**t" at his Republican colleagues, Murphy has been showing up on the Sunday shows, including ABC's "This Week." The senator was all too happy to tout his appearance on his website.
At the start of the segment, Murphy was asked about news that the president will issue an executive order about the border, though he didn't really offer any kind of preview as to what that would be.
"Well, first, I was very glad to see the president go to the border. I think Democrats need to go on the offense on this question of controlling the border. The fact of the matter is, we did achieve a bipartisan compromise. It will give the president new powers to get the border under control, and Donald Trump killed it," Murphy shared, going on to blame Republicans for the problem. "Donald Trump and the Republicans decided that they want the border to be chaotic. It helps them politically, and polls show that if Democrats just tell that story, if the president tells that story, Republicans’ political advantage on the border is erased."
Polls actually show that Biden receives more blame than Trump, including an ABC News/Ipsos poll from last month. It's likely that Murphy is pointing to a poll from the leftist group, Third Way. Such a bill claims a boost for Democrats, specifically with how "a Democratic offensive strategy touting the deal completely erases that edge."
The senator has also been posting about Democrats going on "offense."
"Now, the reality is President Biden needs that legislation because it is just not true that he has the existing authority to issue executive actions that get the border under control," Murphy also claimed, without offering a further explanation on such a claim. Biden himself has made such claims, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who opposed the border provision from the start, has called the president out for such lies.
When host Jonathan Karl asked Murphy his initial question again, about that executive action, the senator acknowledged "I can’t tell you whether President Biden is going to move forward on executive action," before he went on to try to sing some more of Biden and the border bill's praises.
After Murphy also claimed that Republicans "want the border to be out of control because it helps [Trump] politically, "and they know the president has limits to what he can do through executive order," Karl finally pointed out the obvious. Biden has been president for three years now. "I know you spent several months negotiating this. But why did it take so long for the president to address this crisis of the border in terms of the flow of migrants," he wanted to ask. When Murphy complained "I don’t know that that’s fair," and even argued that "in the first week that the president was in office, he sent to Congress a comprehensive immigration and border reform," Karl finally pointed out another obvious point, which is that that bill from the president wasn't even a border security bill, but was a pathway to citizenship.
Speaking of Biden's first day in office, the president actually signed an executive order terminating the emergency at the southern border and ending construction of the border wall.
Following some cross-talk, Karl continued to ask Murphy real questions, including after the senator complained "Republicans have made it absolutely crystal clear, they want the border to be a mess. Donald Trump has told them so," which again ignores the very obvious narrative as to how Biden was in office for three years and the border crisis has only gotten worse. This is even with Democrats controlling the Senate his entire term, plus the House for his first two years.
"But you know that--you’ve seen poll after poll. I could cite the latest Quinnipiac, but there’s been poll after poll showing an overwhelming majority of Americans disapprove of how President Biden has handled the border and we’ve also seen the flow over the border dramatically increased under the president," Karl pointed out.
Other than the one poll he mentioned above, though, Murphy did not speak to the polls. Instead, he gave another completely non-answer.
"What we also know is that under Donald Trump’s presidency, crossings at the border were at 10-year high, and this is exactly why. I think the president and Democrats should go on the offense because the vast majority of the country believes that we should have robust legal immigration, but they want tighter control of the border. And right now, there’s only one party that can deliver that. Only the Democrats support pathways to citizenship, support expanding legal pathways into the country, and a tough border law," he kaughably claimed. "Republicans used the issue the immigration to try and divide us from each other, and now, on the record, opposing the toughest border reform bill, the toughest border security bill in decades."
With the segment moving on to other topics, Karl did not get the chance to point out that last May the House already passed what's truly "the toughest border security bill in decades," which would be HR 2-Secure the Border Act. Even Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has signaled potential support.
The Quinnipiac poll conducted last month that Karl mentioned shows that 17 percent of voters say immigration is their top issue. When asked about Biden's handling of "the situation at the Mexican border," just 29 percent approve, while 63 percent disapprove.
And this is one of the more kinder polls to Biden, given that it shows him with a slim lead over Trump, 49-45 percent.
While immigration is not the top issue for overall voters in the Quinnipiac poll--though it is for Republican ones--many other polls show that it is the top issue or one of the top issues. And Biden certainly doesn't fare well in those polls.
Among those polls includes:
- Gallup: 28 percent of Americans say immigration is their top issue, 28 percent approve of Biden's handling of the issue, and his approval rating is at 38 percent.
- Harvard CAPS-Harris: 36 percent of voters say immigration is their top issue, 35 percent approve of Biden's handling of the issue, his approval rating is at 45 percent, and Trump leads Biden by 53-47 percent.
- Cygnal: 25 percent of voters say illegal immigration is their top issue
RealClearPolling also shows Biden with just a 31 percent approval rating on immigration, while 64.1 percent disapprove, making it his worst issue.