Despite her largely unsuccessful attempts to distance herself from her role in the Biden administration's border policies, Vice President Kamala Harris paid a visit to Arizona on Friday to tout what she claimed were her bona fides on the issue of immigration and to slam those of Donald Trump.
Harris' visit to Douglas, Arizona, however, was not the public relations success her campaign likely hoped, as the Democratic Party nominee drew criticism from all corners, including from former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, as Breitbart reports, for what was described as a craven, opportunistic photo-op designed to mislead the American people.
Despite helping preside over record levels of illegal immigration since taking office alongside Joe Biden in 2021, Harris traveled to the border Friday and attempted to portray herself as ready and willing to crack down on the problem if elected to the top job in November.
As Fox News noted, Harris told those assembled at the Cochise County College Douglas campus, “Those who cross our borders unlawfully will be apprehended and removed and barred from reentering for five years.”
The vice president continued, “We will pursue more severe criminal charges against repeat violators and if someone does not make an asylum request at a legal point of entry and instead crosses our border unlawfully, they will be barred from receiving asylum.”
“While we understand that many people are desperate to migrate to the United States, our system must be orderly and secure,” Harris insisted, before suggesting that Trump “tanked” what she claimed was the “strongest border security bill we have seen in decades” and boasting about her promises to get “results” with regard to illegal immigration.
One prominent figure who was far from impressed with Harris's southern sojourn was Gabbard, herself a former Democrat who has since become a strong Trump campaign surrogate.
“Shameless. No other way to describe Kamala Harris' photo op at Southern Border, promising to secure it after allowing 10+ million illegal aliens in the past 3.5 years as border czar,” Gabbard said.
The former lawmaker continued her critique, saying, “A shameless person feels no shame because they have no conscience. That's Kamala Harris.”
Gabbard was not alone in her disgust over Harris' trip to Arizona, with the union representing border patrol agents also taking aim at what was viewed by some as a crass political stunt.
As the New York Post reports, the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) issued a series of social media posts critical of Harris on Friday, lambasting what they portrayed as her gross hypocrisy on the issue at hand.
“Vice President Harris has ignored the border problem she created for over three years. She goes down there for 20 minutes for a photo op and decides to repeat some of the things the NBPC has said before,” the union began. “But again, where has she been the last 3 ½ years?”
The union added, “VP Harris asserted in Arizona that CPB needed more resources. We have apprehended over 8 million illegal immigrants over the last 4 years and now you realize we need more help 38 days before the election,”
Though the optics of the visit -- including the flashy jewelry worn by Harris -- were clearly controversial, whether the Democratic nominee will succeed in erasing her past inaction on what millions of voters view as the most critical issue of the race is something that remains to be seen.
