Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is blasting President Joe Biden for his performance during his first official press conference.
In an op-ed published by Fox News on Thursday, McEnany claimed Biden adopted a “‘nothing-to-see-here’ type response” to questions about the ongoing surge of immigrants at the southern border.
“In fact, the crisis on our southern border is anything but routine. With 9,000 children apprehended in February, the Biden administration’s apprehensions have ‘surpass[ed] every month of the crisis year of 2019, except May,'” she wrote. “And keep in mind, those Biden-era numbers were in February before the expected upswings typically seen in April and May.”
She added, “By all definitions, this is not routine. This is a crisis, only worsening.”
McEnany went on to claim Biden “misled the American public when he refused to acknowledge the incentives he created by calling for a surge on the border during the campaign, raising his hand to say he supported free health care for illegal immigrants upon arrival after being asked if he was in favor of it at a presidential primary debate, and then unraveling the Trump policies that quantifiably stymied illegal immigration.”
“I will not hold my breath for the barrage of liberal fact-checkers calling out Biden’s misleading statements,” she said.
She also took aim at Biden’s answers on when reporters will receive access to facilities at the border where migrants are being held.
“When confronted about when reporters will be granted access to the overcrowded facilities on our southern border, he replied that access will come only when his ‘plan is underway.’ When a reporter followed up, he said only that it will come when he ‘can implement what they’re doing now.'”
She charged, “These are confusing and, yes, completely unacceptable answers. They are indicative of a Biden coverup of our southern border crisis.”
Finally, McEnany said, “While Biden checked a box this week by finally holding his first solo press conference – taking longer to appear before the White House press corps than any president in the last century – he left a lot of questions unanswered, from his position on abolishing the filibuster to just how egregious our southern border crisis truly is.”
Biden defended his immigration policies on Thursday as he claimed the current surge in immigration was not related to him, as IJR reported.
He also said he would not apologize for rolling back former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies which he claimed were “not helping.”
Before Biden delivered his press conference, McEnany said she had low expectations for his performance.
“I think he’s prepared to just entirely ignore whatever is asked of him and to pivot,” she said during an appearance on Fox News on Thursday morning.
