Immigration was a major topic, as expected, at the first — and perhaps only — presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Polls indicate Republicans enjoy a favorability advantage on the issue, and Harris was specifically asked about the timing of the Biden administration’s June move to deny asylum and curb migrant entry — and why that action took so long, given the record number of border crossings in the months preceding the move. (The administration’s action swiftly curtailed migrant entry, dramatically reducing border crossings.)
Harris replied that immigration reform had looked like it would come through the legislative process through a bipartisan border deal negotiated by “some of the most conservative” members of Congress.
That plan was waylaid however, according to Harris, when Trump gave MAGA lawmakers marching orders to kill the Senate border deal, ostensibly to hobble Democrats’ election fortunes by saddling them with the “broken border” issue.
If Trump then quietly instructed his loyalists to shut down the border bill — as senior GOP lawmakers revealed — the former President is now loudly instructing lawmakers to shut down the government by blocking a continuing resolution on the budget. (Failure to come to terms on the CR that would essentially shut down the government, the threat that hangs over every fraught budget negotiation.)
After Trump told lawmakers to “close it down!!,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) slammed Trump for his political maneuvering, accusing the GOP presidential nominee of a willingness to “tear down our economy in the service of his political interests.”
Donald Trump just called on House Republicans to shut down the government.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 10, 2024
To tear down our economy in the service of his political interests.
Par for the course. If Republicans follow along, they bear full responsibility for the devastation it will bring. pic.twitter.com/iiDpNs6ou4
Trump told GOP lawmakers essentially to hold the budget hostage until they receive “absolute assurances on Election Security.”
It’s not clear what those “assurances” are or would be, but the request is meant as a rhetorical tool to further stir doubts about the integrity of the election process — a key element in Trump’s attempts to cast doubt on any outcome that doesn’t show him winning.
Schiff follows by saying, as Trump’s critics said about his earlier border solution interference, that if GOP lawmakers obey Trump’s orders, “they bear full responsibility for the devastation it will bring.”
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