White House press secretary Jen Psaki walked back her description of the migrant crisis on the border as a “crisis” on Thursday.
During the White House press briefing, Psaki specifically used the phrase “crisis on the border” during a discussion about diplomatic relations with Mexico and the flood of migrants coming to the United States, even as she and top White House officials have repeatedly claimed there is no crisis on the border.
“When you were talking a moment ago about diplomatic negotiations between the United States and Mexico, you said, ‘crisis on the border,'” on reporter noted.
“Challenges on the border,” Psaki clarified.
“So that doesn’t reflect any change in the administration’s view of things?” the reporter replied.
“Nope,” she said.
Since March 1, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has repeatedly denied any crisis on the border.
“I think the answer is no,” Mayorkas said when a reporter asked him if there was a crisis. “I think there is a challenge at the border that we are managing, and we have our resources dedicated to managing it.”
President Joe Biden also denied there is currently a crisis on the border.
“We’ll be able to handle it,” he replied to reporters at the White House on March 2. “God willing.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy traveled to the border Monday to highlight the consequences of the crisis, blaming Biden for changing former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
“It’s more than a crisis,” McCarthy said during a press conference. “This is a human heartbreak.”
He branded it a “Biden border crisis,” denouncing the president for refusing to work with Republicans to address it.
“Before we even came here, I sent a letter to the president to work together to solve this problem … He doesn’t even acknowledge a letter,” McCarthy said.