South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem beclowned CNN anchor Dana Bash on Sunday for defending President Joe Biden over the border crisis.
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Bash asked Noem about ongoing negotiations to pass a controversial border bill that Republicans believe will do little to stymie the border crisis. Biden, over the weekend, committed to shutting down the border only if Congress passes the bill.
The bill, however, is unlikely to pass the Senate because an increasing number of Republican lawmakers oppose the bill. That opposition is giving Democrats a talking point to use against Republicans, and Bash deployed it in her interview with Noem.
“Why not take ‘yes’ for an answer?” Bash asked, referring to Biden’s willingness to sign the bill.
In response, Noem correctly pointed out that Biden doesn’t need the bill to fix the border crisis. Congress, she explained, has already given the president authority to enforce immigration law. Instead, she argued that Biden’s policies need to change.
“The president can be the one who stands up and shows leadership at this time. Change your policies, build a wall, secure the border, and then let’s fix the immigration policy,” Noem said. “But we don’t have to compromise one to do the other.”
But Bash continued to defend Biden.
“Governor, President Biden is negotiating,” the CNN host said. “He didn’t want to do any of this. He’s negotiating because this is what Republicans wanted him to do. So, again, why not take the W? Why not take the win?”
Noem responded with a single question that silenced Bash and brought an awkward silence onto CNN’s airwaves.
“What has he done?” the governor asked.
Noem then broke the silence and recounted what Border Patrol officers on the front lines of the border crisis told her last week.
“[Biden has] done nothing as far as actual policies and using the tools that he has. I sat two days ago with people that work for him that said, ‘This president is tying our hands every single day. He does not let us do our job. This president, we work for him. We work for the federal government, and we hate it. We hate our jobs and we hate what’s happening to this country because he will not keep us safe,'” she said.
Bash, unfortunately, refused to answer Noem’s question. Instead, she blamed Congress for the border crisis and promptly ended the interview.
