Sen. Mitt Romney exploded on President Donald Trump after the bipartisan border deal hit the skids on Thursday, saying it was part of the ex-president’s campaign strategy.
Talking to CNN’s Manu Raju, Mr. Romney accused Mr. Trump of “really appalling” political calculus in attacking the Senate’s bipartisan border negotiations.
“I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump,” said Mr. Romney, a Utah Republican who was the GOP’s 2012 presidential nominee. “The fact that he would communicate to Republican senators and congresspeople that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is really appalling.”
“But the reality is that we have a crisis at the border, the American people are suffering as a result of what’s happening at the border, and someone running for president ought to try to get the problem solved as opposed to saying, ‘Hey, save that problem. Don’t solve it. Let me take credit for solving it later,” he said.
Mr. Romney has long been an outspoken Republican critic of Mr. Trump.
These latest criticisms came amid increased Senate Republican doubts about the deal, which has long been rejected by House Republicans for being too weak and far short of what they say is needed to stop the historic level chaos at the border.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, set off the fingerpointing when he said a deal was in doubt. He told GOP colleagues in a private meeting that the “politics have changed,” according to a report in Punchbowl News.
The border talks had become the linchpin in the $110 billion national security spending package. Many Republicans said they could not justify to their voters approving more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine to defend its border against Russia while not doing something to solve the chaos at the U.S.-Mexico boundary.
The emerging deal would have stiffened rules for claiming asylum and would have allowed new expulsion powers when the flow of illegal immigrants topped 5,000 a day. President Biden, meanwhile, was hoping to get work permits issued to unauthorized migrants as soon as they are caught and released. He also wanted to expand legal immigration.
House Republicans, though, wanted a more enforcement-heavy solution including border wall construction and an end to the administration’s expansive use of “parole” to allow catch-and-release. They said the Senate deal would do little to derail the flow of migrants, and left too much discretion in the hands of an administration they don’t trust to carry out the laws.
Mr. Trump, well on his way to claiming the GOP presidential nomination, urged Republicans to reject any deal that didn’t solve the border.
Mr. Trump last week on Truth Social warned Republicans not to agree to any border deal “unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION of Millions & Millions of people.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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