OPINION:
Former President Donald Trump had to mention illegal aliens eating dogs and cats in Ohio.
That’s just how he is. He goes off half-cocked with shoddy information that looks like it’s nothing more than viral rumors (although there is a police report in Springfield, Ohio, in which a citizen claims to have seen four Haitians, each carrying a live goose away from a pond). And as Mr. Trump said, “We’ll find out.”
Still, how does Mr. Trump not know that if he mentions the rumors, that’s all the mainstream media will focus on? With a candidate as weak on policy as Vice President Kamala Harris, the media must stay far away from real issues.
That’s where Mr. Trump really thumped his opponent: policy. And that’s exactly where Ms. Harris exposed herself as a craven politician — and not a very skilled one.
The moderators of the ABC debate got right to the top issue to open the night: the economy. Then they lobbed Ms. Harris a softball on abortion. Issue No. 3, however, was the southern border crisis, which was uppermost on many Americans’ minds.
David Muir asked this question: “We’re going to turn now to immigration and border security. We know it’s an issue that’s important to Republicans, Democrats, voters across the board in this country. Vice President Harris, you were tasked by President Biden with getting to the root causes of migration from Central America. We know that illegal border crossings reached a record high in the Biden administration. This past June, Mr. Biden imposed tough new asylum restrictions. We know the numbers since then have dropped significantly. But my question to you tonight is, why did the administration wait until six months before the election to act, and would you have done anything differently from President Biden on this?”
Say what you will about the biased moderators, but that’s a pretty tight question. As someone who spent a decade trying to craft no-exit questions to ask presidents in White House news conferences, Mr. Muir got to the nub of Ms. Harris’ campaign: You’ve been vice president for 3½ years — you were even named the “border czar” — and you’ve done nothing. Why should voters believe you now?
“So I’m the only person on this stage who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs and human beings. And let me say that the United States Congress, including some of the most conservative members of the United States Senate, came up with a border security bill which I supported,” Ms. Harris said.
“But you know what happened to that bill? Donald Trump got on the phone, called up some folks in Congress and said kill the bill. And you know why? Because he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem. And understand, this comes at a time where the people of our country actually need a leader who engages in solutions, who actually addresses the problems at hand. But what we have in the former president is someone who would prefer to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem,” she said.
She rambled on for nearly 400 words, and she never got close to answering the question. And it was this simple statement that hit hardest, that the question comes “at a time where the people of our country actually need a leader who engages in solutions, who actually addresses the problems at hand.”
But that’s been you for the last 3½ years! You’ve done nothing! And you know that you could — just as Mr. Trump did — sidestep Congress and take numerous concrete executive actions at the border that would have stemmed the flow of foreigners entering our country illegally.
That was the moment of the debate. Ms. Harris could not explain why voters should accept her promises now that she’s the border czar and has done nothing.
The mainstream media will focus on dogs and cats — anything but Ms. Harris’ weak policies — but voters know better.
• Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on X @josephcurl.
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