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In a dramatic turn in the political arena, President Joe Biden countered former President Donald Trump’s latest criticism with a sharp retort, suggesting Trump might be describing himself with his own harsh words. Trump, expected to be the GOP presidential nominee in 2024, recently lambasted Biden’s new executive order aimed at tightening the U.S.-Mexico border and curbing illegal immigration.
Trump characterized Biden’s leadership as “weak” and accused him of signing the order just for show in anticipation of the upcoming presidential debates. During an interview with ABC News’ David Muir, Trump’s remarks were brought up. Muir quoted Trump, as saying, “He’s pretending to finally do something about the border, but it’s all about show. We have a debate coming up. Biden’s executive order is weak and pathetic.”
Biden didn’t miss a beat. With a dash of sarcasm, he fired back, “Is he describing himself? Weak and pathetic? Come on…Look, everybody knows what’s happened. We had a deal. It was much broader than this, much better, much more accepted across the board, and he got on the phone and told the Republicans, ‘Don’t support it, it will hurt me, it will help Biden,’” as reported by HuffPost.
Biden referred to the deal as a bipartisan border bill, which he emphasized was blocked by congressional Republicans at Trump’s behest earlier this year. According to Biden, this obstruction was a strategic move by Trump to ensure that immigration remained a hot-button issue leading up to the election. Speaking about the bill, Biden remarked, “Today I’m moving past Republican obstruction and using executive authorities available to me as president to do what I can on my own to address the border.
Frankly, I would’ve preferred to address this issue through bipartisan legislation, because that’s the only way to get the kind of system we have now that’s broken fixed.” According to The Hill, Biden further added, “I will never demonize immigrants. I will never refer to immigrants as poisoning the blood of a country. Further, I will never separate children from their families at the border.
I will not ban people because of their religious beliefs. I will not use the U.S. military to go into neighborhoods all across the country to pull millions of people out of their homes and away from their families to detention camps while awaiting deportation as my predecessor says he will do if he occupies this office again.”
The president’s frustration was palpable as he recounted the events, labeling the GOP’s maneuver as an “extremely cynical political move.” He stressed that the blocked bill was a comprehensive solution that enjoyed broader support compared to the executive order he had to sign out of necessity. The bipartisan bill included $20 billion for border security and provisions to expel migrants when crossings exceeded certain thresholds, among other measures.
