Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre the same question she previously refused to answer and shouted down the day before.
Jean-Pierre shouted down Doocy during Thursday’s briefing when he asked about 10,000 illegal migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border per day. The press secretary attempted to blame Republicans and then abruptly moved on to a different reporter while Doocy was challenging her.
Doocy repeated the question once again Friday, leading Jean-Pierre to tout Biden’s handling of the crisis and accuse Republicans of wanting to slash funding for resources.
“Same question as yesterday,” Doocy said.
“Can you repeat the question?” she asked.
“What do you call it when ten thousand people illegally cross the border in a single day?” Doocy asked.
“So here’s what I will say, and you’ve heard me say this a couple times, and I’ll say it again because it is the facts. On day one, the first day of this president’s administration, he put forth a comprehensive immigration reform that we believe, we believe was desperately needed for this country. As we know, and you’ve heard us say this many times before, we are dealing with a broken system. And no action was taken from Congress, and so what the president was able to do, he imposed consequences for those who do not have the legal basis to remain, and he has removed more than 250,000 individuals, this administration has done so, since May 12.” (RELATED: KJP Cuts Off And Shouts Down Peter Doocy After Refusing To Answer Border Crisis Question)
Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden secured record funding that House Republicans opposed and accused former President Donald Trump’s administration of having “gutted the immigration system.” She claimed Republicans wanted to cut Customs and Border Protection (CBP) resources, which she said would allow more illegal drugs to flow into the U.S.
“But, when you spoke last month, and you said we are stopping the flow at the border. Is 10,000 migrants in a single day stopping the flow?” Doocy asked.
“What I will say is, I just mentioned, 250 [thousand] individuals have been stopped who do not have the legal pathway to come in. That has been since May 12. And, as we are looking at Eagle Pass, and I know this is kind of where the issue is at the moment. You know, CBP quickly surged resources and personnel to the area, and thanks to their great work, we’re able to swiftly vet, vetted and process into custody more than 2,500 individuals and cleared the area where migrants had congregated. And that’s the work of our law enforcement. That’s the work of our law enforcement at the border. Remember, House Republicans are trying to cut that.”
The Biden administration has claimed House Republicans have wanted to cut funding for border security in the past several months. The House Freedom Caucus (HFC) responded to those allegations.
“All the money in the world won’t stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal crossings if the president won’t enforce the laws to secure the border,” the HFC said in a statement.
During the 2020 fiscal year — the final year of former President Donald Trump’s administration — officials encountered over 400,000 illegal migrants, according to CBP. Those numbers surged to over 1.7 million in Biden’s first year in 2021. Officials have apprehended over 1.9 million migrants in the 2023 fiscal year.