Biden administration officials are “perplexed” by Vice President Kamala Harris’ handling of her embarrassing first international trip, according to a report from CNN.
Harris’ trip earlier this week to Central America and Mexico, coupled with her awkward interview Tuesday with NBC News anchor Lester Holt over her absence at the U.S. border with Mexico, reportedly has those close to her attempting to make sense of her bungled foreign visit.
“[Harris] endured a rocky first foreign trip since taking office, with sources telling CNN her two-day swing through Mexico and Guatemala left some administration officials quietly perplexed about what they perceive as her bumpy answers to questions about whether she will go to the US-Mexico border,” CNN noted Wednesday in a lengthy report after speaking to people inside the White House.
“Several sources say there was a real hope inside the White House that Harris’ first trip abroad would be a success, and worry that what looked like ill-prepared answers to that inevitable question would overshadow it,” the outlet added, referring to the NBC interview.
During that interview, Holt asked Harris why, as the White House envoy to the border, she has steered clear of the area for months amid the unprecedented humanitarian crisis created by her administration’s open borders messaging.
There is no way to spin Harris’ absence at the border, as well as her unpreparedness to being questioned about it by Holt — who, to his credit, asked her point-blank why she hadn’t bothered to see the international spectacle for herself.
“At some point, you know — we are going to the border. We’ve been to the border. So this whole, this whole, this whole thing about the border. We’ve been to the border. We’ve been to the border,” Harris told Holt when fending off the question.
“You haven’t been to the border,” Holt responded in a comment that made it appear as though the establishment media might be prepared to hold Biden administration officials accountable with regard to the crisis.
Harris awkwardly laughed, noting: “– and I haven’t been to Europe. And I mean, I don’t — I don’t understand the point that you’re making. I’m not discounting the importance of the border.”
Cringe video. Over awkward laughs, Kamala Harris:
“We’ve been to the border.”
Holt challenges that lie.
Kamala “and I haven’t been to Europe.”
Do we have an illegal migrant crisis on our ‘border’ with Europe? pic.twitter.com/qsBxNbMs8a
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) June 8, 2021
That interview raised eyebrows at the White House, according to people who spoke with CNN. The outlet noted it was “acknowledged [that Harris’ answer to Holt’s question] was a sound bite that would likely stick with Harris as she continues to confront the issue at the southern border.”
“Harris’ response to NBC raised the issue of potentially overshadowing a trip White House officials saw as an opportunity to display the true intent of an assignment that has been conflated in the weeks since its announcement,” CNN reported.
“Instead, she was stuck once again dealing with an issue that has drawn repeated GOP attacks — one some officials said they had assumed she would be able to easily address and move on from when it was inevitably raised.”
CNN even dedicated some on-air time to Harris’ unfortunate past few days:
CNN: The White House is “confused” by Kamala Harris’ trouble with a "question that the administration has been dealing with for months” pic.twitter.com/qUywWyiPrB
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 9, 2021
The trip was a complete disaster, and despite Harris’ attempts to stave off criticism over her absence on the border by claiming she is going to the root of the migrant issue, she is now dealing with more calls to do her job — which for now is to bring stability to the border.
Harris did finally pledge to visit the border on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The vice president told reporters she had “been to the border before and will go again.” She did not specify when such a visit will occur.
With Harris taking point when speaking with world leaders earlier this year, it became apparent the Biden administration believed she was capable of handling business down south. But it appears as though officials now feel they overestimated her abilities to run point on the border.
Harris already seemed woefully unprepared to handle her current position. After Tuesday, she apparently has fewer supporters on the inside. Her abysmal performance is reported to be so jarring that not only are Biden administration officials anonymously expressing concerns about it, but even biased CNN is reporting it.
