House Speaker Mike Johnson blamed Democrats for their "dereliction of duty" that led to the New Year's Day terrorist attack in New Orleans, The Washington Examiner reported. The Louisiana Republican said the GOP has been "ringing the alarms" that have gone unheeded.
Early Wednesday morning, a 42-year-old Army veteran plowed into a crowd of New Year's revelers in New Orleans. At least 15 were killed and another 30 injured in the attack.
Although it appears illegal immigration wasn't a factor in this particular crime, it became a talking point after the FBI deemed it an act of terrorism. President Joe Biden and the Democrats have a general habit of putting Americans needlessly at risk.
President-elect Donald Trump blasted the "OPEN BORDERS" and "nonexistent leadership" that allowed people into the country unchecked shortly after the attack. Johnson similarly excoriated Biden and Senate Democrats for their unwillingness to secure the country while on Fox & Friends Thursday.
According to the New York Post, Shamsud-Din Jabbar was from Texas and served in the U.S. Army. However, significant evidence, including an ISIS flag in the vehicle he used to commit the crime, points to his radicalism that was nurtured by someone.
Johnson acknowledged a mindset problem when it comes to protecting the country. The Biden administration's unwillingness to secure the border with Mexico underscores the lack of care given to preventing terrorism.
"I don’t know if enough attention is being paid to this, but we all know that for the last four years, the Biden administration has been completely derelict in its duty," Johnson charged. The House Speaker explained that Republicans in Congress have been pushing for border security to no avail.
"The idea that dangerous people were coming here in droves and setting up potentially terrorist cells around the country, we have been ringing the alarms, we impeached DHS Secretary Mayorkas in the House over that very issue and others related to it so this is a big concern," Johnson said. Jabbard was radicalized and acted upon it, but it seems the administration didn't care about that possibility at all.
Co-host Lawrence Jones asked Johnson whether there was any warning about this attack before it happened. Johnson unleashed, explaining how the "Biden administration has been completely derelict in its duty" to protect America.
"They told us, Lawrence, for four years that the No. 1 threat was so-called 'racially motivated extremism.' It was nonsense. This is the thing that we were all concerned about," Johnson said.
"This is why we raised the alarms. This is why we passed H.R. 2, the strongest border security act ever passed by Congress, and Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in the Senate would not put that through and make it into law," Johnson continued.
"The Biden administration has a lot to account for here, and we see now in glaring view of everybody that this dereliction of duty has real consequences. It’s a concern, and it will be an ongoing concern for some time," he added.
There are many ways that terrorism reaches our shores, not the least of which is through a porous southern border. Jabbard's crime is precisely the kind of event that Republicans have been warning might happen if that practice continued, and this could just be the start.
