The veep attempted to wave off Holt¡¯s question with a laugh, noting that she also hasn¡¯t been to Europe lately.
Amid her two-day visit to Guatemala and Mexico to address the root causes of the surge of migration at the United States¡¯ southern border, Harris sat down with Holt for an interview set to air Tuesday night on NBC. And while expressing cautious optimism about the ongoing immigration issues, the vice president warned that there is no ¡°quick fix¡± to the situation.
¡°We are not going to
see an immediate return. But we¡¯re going to see progress,¡± she declared. ¡°The
real work is going to take time to manifest itself. Will it be worth it? Yes.
Will it take some time? Yes.¡±
At the same time, Holt noted that Harris has been criticized—largely by Republicans—over her refusal to visit the border ever since she¡¯s been tasked by President Joe Biden to lead the administration¡¯s response to the influx of migrants.
¡°The question that has
come up and you heard it here and you¡¯ll hear it again I¡¯m sure, is, ¡®Why not
visit the border? Why not see what Americans are seeing in this crisis?¡¯¡± Holt
wondered aloud.
¡°Well, we are going to
the border,¡± Harris responded. ¡°We have to deal with what¡¯s happening at the
border, there¡¯s no question about that. That¡¯s not a debatable point. But we
have to understand that there¡¯s a reason people are arriving at our border and
ask what is that reason and then identify the problem so we can fix it.¡±
Later on in the
interview, the NBC News anchor circled back to that topic, challenging Harris
on her personal absence from the border thus far, prompting the vice president
to seemingly get a bit annoyed by the question.
¡°Do you have any plans
to visit the border?¡± Holt asked.
¡°At some point, you know, we are going to the border,¡± Harris replied. ¡°We¡¯ve been to the border. So this whole thing about the border. We¡¯ve been to the border. We¡¯ve been to the border.¡±
Holt shot back: ¡°You haven¡¯t been to the border.¡±
¡°And I haven¡¯t been to Europe!¡± Harris exclaimed with an awkward laugh. ¡°And I mean—I don¡¯t understand the point that you¡¯re making. I¡¯m not discounting the importance of the border.¡±
Holt, meanwhile, pointed out that it wasn¡¯t just Republicans urging Harris to personally make an appearance at the border, noting that Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) has repeatedly called on the Biden administration to visit the region.
¡°I care about what¡¯s happening at the border,¡± Harris contended. ¡°I¡¯m in
Guatemala because my focus is dealing with the root causes of migration. There
may be some who think that that is not important, but it is my firm belief that
if we care about what¡¯s happening at the border, we better care about the root
causes and address them. And so that¡¯s what I¡¯m doing.¡±
https://www.thedailybeast.com/nbcs-lester-holt-grills-kamala-harris-on-migrant-crisis-you-havent-been-to-the-border?ref=scroll
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