CNBC’s Joe Kernen appeared visibly frustrated as he criticized President Joe Biden’s border policies to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s face.
Kernen told Buttigieg that the Biden administration did not prioritize the border crisis until voters viewed it as a top issue. He further pressed the transportation secretary on the administration blaming Republicans for the continual crisis and mass surge of apprehensions.
“And every time I hear those talking points —” Kernen began.
“Well, let’s be clear, though,” Buttigieg interrupted.
“Let me finish first, but every time we hear those talking points, it’s suddenly, it was Republican who ruined the border. That’s why people get so frustrated. We know what President Biden said about inviting people in. We know that he got rid of all the things that were keeping the border closed that [former] President [Donald] Trump had put in. We know that he got rid of all those. So when you say it’s not his fault —”
“No, that’s literally not true,” Buttigieg interjected.
“Did you see 7.2 —?” Kernen attempted to say. (RELATED: ‘I Don’t Think That’s Quite Fair’: CNBC Host Confronts Pete Buttigieg On Taking Victory Lap Over Inflation Drop)
“He got rid of family separation,” the transportation secretary said.
“Did you see 7.2 million people come in during the Trump administration?” Kernen asked.
Buttigieg repeated that Biden got rid of Trump’s “family separation” policy but did not mention that the Biden administration additionally lifted the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which sent nearly 70,000 migrants to Mexico to await their immigration court hearings, according to the American Immigration Council.
The COVID-19 expulsion policy called Title 42, which expelled over two million migrants to protect against COVID, was also lifted during the Biden administration.
The Biden administration has witnessed a record surge of illegal migrants since assuming office in Jan. 2021. Apprehensions exceeded 1.7 million in Biden’s first year and surpassed two million in the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years, and over 301,000 were apprehended in the month of December 2023 alone, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
A total of 400,651 migrants were apprehended at the southern border in the 2020 fiscal year, the final year of the Trump administration, according to CBP.