On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris took part in her first formal sit-down interview with Fox News as she spoke to Bret Baier. Immigration came up as a topic, particularly in the context of Americans who were allegedly murdered by illegal immigrants. Unfortunately, Harris didn't answer as to if she owed the families an apology, and mostly kept pivoting back to criticizing former and potentially future President Donald Trump during the interview. Patty Morin, the mother of one of those victims, Rachel Morin, was asked to respond to that interview during her appearance on "Fox & Friends" on Thursday morning.
As co-host Steve Doocy asked in speaking about Harris' interview, 'Bret [Baier] was asking, 'do you owe an apology to the families?' Does she?"
Patty Morin was clear: "I think that she does. I think that actions speak louder than words." Morin also pointed out, "And by her actions, I would say that she puts illegal immigrants above the American people. And she has allowed all these deaths to happen on her watch."
Doocy referenced how Harris kept referring to a particularly bad border bill as well as Trump. "During the interview, and I'm sure you saw it, whenever there was a question, uncomfortable question regarding the border or migration, she would pivot back to, well, Donald Trump torpedoed that -- that border bill," Doocy reminded.
As to the transcript provided by Fox News' "Special Report With Bret Baier" of one such moment detailed:
BAIER: Madam Vice President, a couple of things --
HARRIS: Trafficking of drugs, guns, and human beings, and Donald Trump --
BAIER: Six Democrats voted against that bill.
HARRIS: -- learned about that bill and told them to kill it because he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem. And in this election, this is rightly a discussion that the American people want to have, and what they want they want our solutions and they want a president of the United States who's not playing political games with the issue --
BAIER: I hear you.
HARRIS: -- but actually is focused on fixing it.
BAIER: Six democrats voted against that bill. It would've allowed 1.8 million illegal immigrants into the country a year. A lot of conservatives had a problem with it. These are the six Democrats.
But more importantly, back to the original premise, Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin, Laken Riley, they are young women who were brutally assaulted and killed by some of the men who were released at the beginning of the administration, well before a negotiated bipartisan bill. Former President Clinton actually referred to Laken Riley Sunday, campaigning for you in Georgia, saying if those men had been properly vetted, Laken Riley probably would not have been killed.
So, if it wouldn't have happened, this is well before any negotiation, this is well before Donald Trump got involved in the politics, this is a specific policy decision by your administration to release these men into the country. So, what I'm saying to you, do you owe those families an apology?
HARRIS: Let me just say, first of all, those are tragic cases. There's no question about that. There's no question about that. And I can't imagine the pain that the families of those victims have experienced for a loss that should not have occurred. So, that is true.
It is also true that if a border security had actually been passed nine months ago, it would be nine months that we would have had more border agents at the border, more support for the folks who are working around the clock, trying to hold it all together --
BAIER: Madam Vice President --
HARRIS: -- to ensure that no future harm would occur. And this election in 20 days, will determine whether we have a president of the United States who actually cares more about fixing a problem, even if it is not to their political advantage in an election. Because there was a solution, Bret.
BAIER: Madam Vice President, it was a policy decision in the early part of your administration...
Doocy brought up another key detail about the border bill that Democrats love to cling to, which is the timing. "Your daughter was murdered over a year ago. And the border bill was not brought up and discussed until May of this year. So it would not have saved your daughter's life," he told Morin.
"It would not. And I think the only reason why they tried to push this border bill was to save face because they knew that this invasion happened on their watch. And willfully, I believe it happened," Morin responded.
She brought up further issues with the bill as well. "And then also, if the American people actually read the bill, they would see that the majority of the money was going to foreign interests like Ukraine and Israel, and very little was actually going to the border. And what went to the border was to actually facilitate bringing more illegal immigrants into the country, not securing and closing the border," Morin pointed out.
Further, for all of the focus from Democrats on this bad border, which they still insist on blaming on Trump rather than on the lack of merits, there was another border bill. HR 2-the Secure the Border Act was passed in May of last year. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has failed to bring it for a vote in the Senate, though, and has instead repeatedly tried for the failed bill his party favors.
"Do you blame the Biden administration for the death of your girl?" Doocy went on to ask Morin, who explained that she does.
"I do. And the reason why I do is because there were policies that were already in place. You don't need to change the law. You're the president, vice president. Those policies were in place. Mr. Trump had them in place. And they revoked them all, more out of spite towards Mr. Trump, I believe, than anything," Morin responded, which further upends the narrative that Trump is to blame. "And they completely opened up our border to a massive invasion of illegal immigrants like none ever seen in the history of our country. So yes, I completely and totally blame them."
Patty Morin says she blames the death of her daughter, Rachel Morin, on the Biden-Harris admin because it opened America's borders to illegal aliens. Rachel was murdered on a trail in Maryland allegedly by an illegal alien who entered the country under Biden and Harris. pic.twitter.com/kDJ2qQLXG0
— Federation for American Immigration Reform (@FAIRImmigration) October 17, 2024
Morin also responded to how Harris told Baier, "I can't imagine the pain these families experience," offering that "it's something that never goes away," that "there's never a day," she doesn't think about her Rachel, or her five children, or cry for her. She called her pain and how she'll have it for the rest of her life "an unbearable thing."
As Morin was in tears, and Doocy appeared close to tearing up himself, Morin stressed that "this should not be" towards the end of the segment. "And if they had secured the borders, and just American people should come first, that's why we elect these officials, to protect our country, not to open the border and allow all these sworn enemies of our country into our country, and then give them aid and comfort above the American people. That's just not right," she said about the current administration.
Harris referenced Trump approximately 20 times during the interview with Baier, per the transcript, mentioning "and Donald Trump" no less than six times.