Vice President Kamala Harris had a testy response to a Univision anchor who asked her about visiting the U.S.-Mexico border.
The story: Harris spoke to Colombian journalist and Univision anchor Ilia Calderón after she returned from her trip to Mexico and Guatemala. The vice president visited the countries to talk to their presidents after President Biden tapped her to lead the administration’s response to the border crisis.
Harris visited Guatemala and Mexico because she claims that the “root causes” of illegal immigration are the issues that people face in their home countries. Still, the vice president has never gone to the U.S-Mexico border. She insisted that her role is diplomatic and that going to the border will not resolve the crisis.
Nevertheless, Harris continues to face pressure to make the trip to the border.
The interview: During Thursday’s interview Calderón pressed Harris about visiting the border.
“I’ve said I’m going to the border,” Harris told the anchor. “And I-”
“When are you going to the border, Vice President?” Calderón asked.
Harris appeared to hear the question mid-sentence.
“The Administration has asked… I’m not finished,” the vice president said sternly and chuckled. “I’ve said I’m going to the border.”
“And also if we are going to deal with the problems at the border, we have to deal with the problems that cause people to go to the border, to flee to the border. So my first trip as vice president of the United States was to go- in terms of a foreign trip- to Guatemala, to be on the ground there to address and to be informed of the root causes why are the people of Guatemala leaving,” Harris added.
“Do you have a date for your trip to the border?” Calderón asked.
“I will keep you posted,” Harris replied.
The response: Social media users mocked and criticized the vice president.
Worth noting: Earlier this week, Harris triggered a mounting backlash after she told NBC News host Lester Holt that “we’ve been to the border.”
“At some point, you know, we are going to the border. We’ve been to the border,” Harris said. “So this whole, this whole, this whole thing about the border. We’ve been to the border. We’ve been to the border.”
When Holt told the vice president that she has not visited the border, she responded: “And I haven’t been to Europe.”
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