Biden, Harris denounce border agents after false claims of 'whipping' migrants
Fox News host Chris Wallace discusses Biden's comments on the use of horses at the border and the true cost of Democrats' $3.5 trillion bill.
Two weeks ago, the Biden administration assured the nation that swift action would be taken to punish the border agents on horseback who were falsely accused of whipping Hatian migrants.
Even after it was perfectly clear that no whips were used and that no whipping occurred a beleaguered President Joe Biden called the actions of the agents "outrageous," "horrible to see," and said that the agents would "pay."
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This week, the Department of Homeland Security failed to meet its own deadline for finishing their investigation into this absurd episode. Back on September 22nd, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Congress: "I want to assure you that we are addressing this with tremendous speed and tremendous force. The facts will drive the action we take." He promised the investigation "will be completed in days – not weeks."
Ok. So here we are. What has been discovered in the mysterious case of the border agents not whipping migrants? Are there any leads?
Or is it exactly what it looks like, a ridiculous reaction to misleading photos that were almost immediately shown not to support the idea that anyone was whipped. Even the photographer who made the mounted agents famous said he didn’t see anyone whipped.
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This isn’t the Gardner Museum heist, folks. There is nothing to investigate. If there was the remotest shred of evidence to suggest that those agents were doing anything other than the job they were tasked with we would have seen it by now. This entire situation is nothing more than a misunderstanding resulting from "whisper down the lane" social media outrage.
President Biden might not know this since he has apparently never been to the southern border, but in places like Del Rio, Texas where the incident took place people are furious that he lied about these border agents. These agents were the people risking their own safety to protect the 35,000 residents of Del Rio from an encampment of 15,000 migrants. They deserve thanks – not to be called racists by their own president.
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If shoot-from-the-shoulder Biden won’t man up and give the agents the apology they deserve, maybe he could have a beer summit like Barack Obama did when he falsely accused a cop of racism. The president, the agents, and a couple of Hatian migrants knocking back a few frosty ones in the Rose Garden. I can see it now.
However he chooses to do it, Biden must address this situation. Two weeks ago he promised that these border agents had done something horrific and would be punished. If that isn’t true -- and it isn’t true -- then the president must lean into the truth just as hard as he leaned into the lie.
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If doing the right thing isn’t enough motivation for Biden to apologize he might consider that it could help him politically. Recent polling puts him underwater with voters on whether he is honest. A good way to improve those numbers would be to say, "Look, I fouled up. The image evoked profound ugliness from the past, it clouded my vision, and I’m sorry."
Most Americans would see such an act by the president in a positive light. But don’t hold your breath. It sure seems like DHS is dragging out this investigation in the hopes that the story will just go away.
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That is not acceptable, not only because it lets Biden off the hook, but because it leaves questions lingering about the morals and professionalism of our border agents that are without merit.
Biden’s presidency is by almost all accounts crashing in flames. He needs something to turn things around for him. It might be the last thing the president would ever think of doing, but maybe a simple act of decency, an apology, could begin to right the ship.
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