Tipsheet

Here's What the Trump Campaign Called the 'Most Absurd Lie Yet From the DNC Stage'

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  August 22, 2024 4:30 PM

As one of the negotiators of the disastrous border bill put together and released earlier this year, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) has been prone to gaslighting about illegal immigration and the failures of the Biden-Harris administration on the issue. He took it all that much further, though, when he spoke at the DNC on Wednesday night, coming up with what the Trump-Vance campaign referred to as the "most absurd lie yet from the DNC stage."

"Kamala Harris is not weak," Murphy laughably claimed about the vice president. "For 20 years, Kamala Harris has been tough as nails when it comes to securing our border," Murphy claimed from the podium, all with a serious face, after he tried really hard to sell a particularly bad bill on the border. He also insisted that former and potentially future President Donald Trump, and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) are not only "weird" and "creepy" but "weak," which earned applause from the crowd.

A post from the Trump War Room X account also referred to Murphy's claim as "the lie of the year."

In claiming Harris was "tough as nails," Murphy referenced her time as a prosecutor in California, though he conveniently left out how she's made crime worse there. Despite how Harris is the sitting vice president, Murphy left out her role as the border czar during the Biden-Harris administration when it comes to Harris being supposedly "tough as nails."

Not only did Murphy not reference Harris' role as border czar and the failures involved, he still tried to sell electing Harris as president by claiming that she "knows that we can be a nation of proud immigrants and a nation of strong immigration laws." What Murphy said next didn't entail Harris doing anything about the situation now, though. "That's why when she's president, she will bring that border bill back and Kamala Harris is going to pass this," he added to applause. 

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He then went on to further demonize Trump, which also included claiming that with Harris, "we do not have to choose between celebrating our heritage and enforcing our laws," even as the Biden-Harris administration refuses to do that. "We can be a nation of immigrants who love their country and a nation with a secure border," Murphy similarly added. 

Such comments came after Murphy looked to demonize Trump in other ways, claiming "he killed that bill, and he did it because he knew that if we fixed the border, he would lose his ability to divide us, his ability to fan the flames of fear about people who come from different places.

That bill would not have "fixed the border," though. Further, Trump and other Republicans are not merely "flam[ing] the fear about people who come from different places," but warning about illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes against American citizens.

This bad border bill is not the only piece of legislation on border security, though. In May of last year, the Republican-led House passed HR 2-the Secure the Border Act. 

In promoting such a bill, members like Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) have also reminded that the Biden-Harris administration has taken plenty of executive actions to make the crisis at the border worse, as compiled by Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) office. 

The Trump-Vance campaign also rounded up a list of examples of why Murphy's claim is patently false:

  • Kamala Harris supports decriminalizing illegal border crossings. 
  • Kamala Harris thought Barack Obama deported too many illegal immigrants. 
  • Kamala Harris compared ICE officers to the KKK and said we need to start "from scratch" with the agency that arrests and deports rapists and killers. 
  • Kamala Harris supports giving taxpayer-funded healthcare coverage to illegal immigrants.
  • Kamala Harris wants to shut down immigration detention centers and release thousands of criminals.
  • Kamala Harris said a border wall is "medieval" and mocked the idea that terrorists would take advantage of our southern border. 
  • As Border Czar, Kamala Harris oversees a porous border that releases criminals and terrorists into the country.
  • As a senator, Kamala Harris urged the Senate not to fund additional Border Patrol personnel.

Murphy also lied earlier in the week at the DNC, while speaking to ABC News. According to the senator, Harris is part of an administration that has "less crossings at the southern border that are happening on a daily basis than under the Trump administration."

Data shows, however, that encounters at the southern border have been at record highs during the Biden-Harris administration.

For all of these promises about what Harris will do once elected, a CBS News/YouGov America poll shows that not even a majority of Democrats think border crossings will go down if she's elected. 

As we covered earlier this month:

Another top issue for voters is the border crisis. A majority of voters, 52 percent, believe that Harris' policies will "increase the number of migrants trying to cross the border." A plurality of her fellow Democrats, at 47 percent, believe her policies "won't have an effect."

In stark contrast, 72 percent of overall voters believe that Trump's policies will "decrease the number of migrants trying to cross the border," with a majority of every single demographic polled saying so. Even 53 percent of Democrats believe that will be the case.

Harris' policies are not merely at odds with Trump, but also border patrol experts. Since Murphy's speech, Trump traveled to Arizona to see effects of the border crisis firsthand, where experts revealed how Harris "refused to listen" to their suggestions.

With such remarks, Murphy and the DNC ignored the stories of those Americans who have been tragically victimized by violent crime, with those charged being in the country illegally. The Trump War Room highlighted such a fact. 

This stands in stark contrast to how Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) paid homage to the victims last month during his speech at the RNC. This includes 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, from Cruz's hometown of Houston. The preteen was sexually assaulted and murdered. Those charged were here illegally. 

Trump was also joined by family members during his Thursday remarks as he too mourned the loss of life at the hands of illegal immigrant criminals.

Murphy isn't the only one who misled heavily on the border crisis this week. In his Tuesday night speech, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) similarly complained about misled about the bad bill that was defeated in the Senate and had no chance of passing in the House. 

The Senate killed such a bill in February and then again in May when Schumer brought it up for a vote.