Trump Attacks Kamala Harris for a Job She Never Even Had

The far right is zeroing in on its new attack on Vice President Kamala Harris: She is somehow solely responsible for the U.S.-Mexico border.

On Thursday, House Republicans approved a resolution slamming Harris as the “border czar” and condemning her handling of immigration. The resolution, authored by Representative Elise Stefanik, passed in a 220–196 vote. 

“By every metric, Kamala Harris has failed to secure our borders, instead advancing far-left Democrats’ failed open border policies and the needs of illegal immigrants over the safety of America,” Stefanik argued on the House floor. 

Six Democrats also voted for the resolution: Representatives Yadira Caraveo, Henry Cuellar, Don Davis, Jared Golden, Mary Peltola, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez—all of whom have also been critical of President Joe Biden’s border policies. Davis has since endorsed Harris. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the measure “fake and fraudulent,” since Harris was never appointed as a so-called “border czar.”  

But that hasn’t stopped Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and their allies, who are eager to find a way to successfully attack Harris, from pushing the term. 

During a rally Thursday in North Carolina, Trump insisted Harris “was the border czar, but she never went to the border.”

“As border czar, Kamala threw open our borders and allowed 20 million illegal aliens to stampede into our country from all over the world,” he said.

This is false. CNN pointed out in a fact-check that Harris did go to the border as vice president. Further, the total number of border “encounters” since February 2021 adds up to about 10 million, and an “encounter” does not mean someone was let into the country. 

That night, Trump’s former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed on Fox News that Biden had personally dubbed Harris the border czar. But the clip she showed to prove her point didn’t actually include Biden using the term.

Vance has said the vice president failed as “America’s border czar” and claims she “supported abolishing ICE,” something Harris has never floated. 

Let’s dispel this myth that Harris had been put squarely in charge of the U.S.-Mexico border. While it is true that in 2021, the vice president was assigned to lead a limited effort to address the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, Harris was not by any means in charge of the border.