Western NC congressman bashes Biden over immigration using Trump-era migrant caravan photo

An attempt by Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards to blast President Joe Biden over immigration in a social media post backfired when it was revealed the image of migrants massing at the border was actually taken during the presidency of Donald Trump.

The 2018 Associated Press photo of a migrant caravan was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Western North Carolina's congressman with a cutout of Biden and the words, "I did that."

The mistake drew wide criticism of Republican politicization of the southern border, described by some as hypocritical.

"Hey Congressman, the migration has been going on for decades. Attempting to pin the blame on the current president tells me that you are just trolling here," said one X user with the handle Murphy.

Edwards, a representative of the 11th District covering the state's westernmost counties including Buncombe, has like many Republicans focused on the border, calling it a crisis. He voted along with the majority-GOP House Feb. 13 for the historic impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border, a move panned by critics, including three Republicans who said the vote was political and there wasn't evidence Mayorkas had committed the high crimes and misdemeanors necessary to impeach.

Prior to Republicans changing their stance to scuttle the bipartisan border bill, Edwards also said he supported leveraging Ukraine aid for a border clampdown.

Responding to questions from the Citizen Times, Edwards acknowledged the mistake and said he shouldn't have tried to "poke fun" at a situation on the border that he described as critical.

“My misguided attempt, however, does not change the facts: Our country is being invaded at the invitation of Joe Biden through the 64 executive actions he has taken to relax border security, and through Secretary Mayorkas’s failure to follow the law," he said in a statement.

He did not answer questions, including why he chose the photo and whether it raised questions about Trump's handling of the border.

Edwards said the historic numbers of migrants seeking to cross the southern border have included terrorists, human traffickers and transporters of the highly dangerous drug fentanyl. Seeking to blunt the political force of the border in an election year, Biden pivoted and agreed to stricter border controls. Trump then urged Republicans to pull out of the bipartisan deal they helped broker to deny his likely presidential opponent a win.

Edwards' opponent in the March 5 Republican primary, Clay County mortgage broker Christian Reagan, called Edwards "all talk" regarding stricter border rules. Living most of his life in Texas, Reagan said he had seen "poverty" and "devastation" brought by immigrants.

He blamed both parties and said he would push for harsh measures.

"We have to close the border using the military, build the wall and begin the difficult (job) of removing illegals from this country. The rule of law has to prevail," Reagan said in an email.

Democratic 11th District candidate Caleb Rudow, who faces no primary opponent, made fun of the mistake and criticized Republican rejection of the border deal.

"We can safely add "make a good meme" to the list of things Chuck Edwards has failed to accomplish in his first term," Rudow, a member of the N.C. state House, said an email.

"It's a shame Chuck and his party would rather campaign on the immigration issue instead of solving it by working across the aisle and passing the Senate's bipartisan bill. We need representatives who are interested in getting to work to solve problems instead of trying to score cheap political points with bungled memes."

Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Western NC congressman bashes Biden, mistakenly using Trump-era pic