![LEFT: Fox News' Peter Doocy [Youtube/Screenshot/Fox News] RIGHT: White House Press Sec. Jen Psaki [Twitter/Screenshot/Daily Caller]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Doocy-Psaki-pic-e1634932015792.jpeg "LEFT: Fox News' Peter Doocy [Youtube/Screenshot/Fox News] RIGHT: White House Press Sec. Jen Psaki [Twitter/Screenshot/Daily Caller]")
White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended on Friday President Joe Biden’s no-show at the southern border, informing reporters that Biden did, in fact, visit the border while on the campaign trail in 2008.
“Why did President Biden say he has been to the border?” Fox News’ Senior White House Correspondent Peter Doocy asked, referring to Biden’s CNN Townhall Thursday night.
“Well, Peter, as you may have seen, there’s been reporting that he did drive through the border when he was on the campaign trail in 2008, and he is certainly familiar with the fact, and it stuck with him, the fact that in El Paso the border goes right through the center of town,” Psaki replied. “But the most important thing everyone should know and understand is that the president has worked on these issues throughout his entire career and is well versed in every aspect of our immigration system, including the border.”
DOOCY: “Why did President Biden say he has been to the border?”
Psaki: “There’s been reporting that he did drive through the border when he was on the campaign trail in 2008.” pic.twitter.com/pMPtyxCNUE
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 22, 2021
Psaki then touted Biden’s travels as vice president, noting he went to Mexico and Central America “ten times to address border issues.”
“He does not need a visit to the border to know what a mess was left by the last administration, that’s his view,” she continued. (RELATED: Missouri, Texas Sue Biden Administration Over Border Wall)
Biden addressed concerns he should visit the southern border during the town hall Thursday night after a Republican law student questioned his absence.
“I know [the southern border] well, I guess I should go down, but the whole point of it is I haven’t had a whole hell of a lot of time to get down,” the president said. “I’ve been spending time going around, looking at the $900 billion damage done by hurricanes and floods and weather and traveling around the world.”
Border crossings have spiked since Biden took office, with agents encountering 17,097 migrants in August of 2021 compared with just 694 in August of 2020, according to Todd Bensman with the Center for Immigration Studies, an immigration-skeptical think tank. Migrants also told the Daily Caller they “thank [Biden] very much” for his immigration policies which they say encouraged them to make the trek.