Fox News Channel’s chief White House correspondent Ed Henry called out the Obama administration’s framing of the immigration flood as a “situation” on the U.S.-Mexico border during Tuesday’s press briefing.
The White House released a letter from senior adviser Valerie Jarrett this week accepting Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s invitation to President Barack Obama for a meeting during his Wednesday trip to Texas.
Jarrett opened the letter calling the border crisis an “urgent humanitarian situation.”
POTUS welcomes mtg with Perry in TX, asks Gov to join him for discussion on border issue per letter from @vj44 pic.twitter.com/YP4Z1ocUD6
— Jim Acosta (@JimAcostaCNN) July 8, 2014
“Why is it called a ‘humanitarian situation’? Is this an attempt to dial it back?” Henry asked White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Tuesday.
Earnest responded, “We’ve been candid about the urgency with which we are approaching this situation. I think that’s reflective of the efforts that we have undertaken to try to address it. We’ve certainly called it ‘a crisis’ as you point out. It’s also an emerging situation.”
President Obama asked Congress on Tuesday for $3.7 billion for emergency funds to help cope with the flood of minors coming from Central America, but the president still has no plans to visit the border.
Henry noted that the administration’s reservations to play up the “crisis” aspect of the border turmoil could be due to a “great fear” that it could become “the Katrina moment for President Obama” as Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar called it this week.
Conservative commentator Seton Motley quipped on Twitter about the real “situation” that could cause a “crisis” on the border.
This Situation on the border is a crisis. @LarryOConnor pic.twitter.com/VxF9kYI61G
— Seton Motley (@SetonMotley) July 8, 2014