The border crisis that exploded during the Biden-Harris administration is the Achilles heel that could cost Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris the White House, ex-Gov. David Paterson warned Sunday.
“She has got one real big problem: 72 percent of Americans think that the number of people crossing the border from the south is going to increase [under her]. Only 21% feel that it’s going to decrease if she is president,” the Democratic former top New York pol said, citing polls during an interview on 770 WABC’s “The Cats Roundtable”.
“This is an area where all Donald Trump needs to do is talk about the border. If he talks about nothing else – maybe the economy a little bit – he can win this election,” Paterson told host John Catsimatidis.
Dem Vice President Harris last week promised to “hire thousands more” border patrol agents if she is elected – after allowing the agency to hemorrhage thousands of them as the migrant crisis exploded under her watch, critics say.
The Harris campaign also put out a new 30-second ad claiming the Democratic presidential candidate “backed the toughest border control bill in decades” as President Biden’s “border czar” veep.
“And as president, she will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking,” the spot says. “Fixing the border is tough. So is Kamala Harris.”
But some border patrol sources said Harris is all-talk.
“The morale has never been as low in the Border Patrol, but under the Biden-Harris administration and her current ads, acting like she’s pro-border security is just putting salt on an already gaping wound for the morale of border Border Patrol agents and law enforcement,” fumed ex-Yuma Border Patrol Chief Chris Clem to The Post last week.
Paterson said he believes Harris will eventually prevail in her race against GOP presidential foe Donald Trump.
But he said it would be a mistake for Harris and the Democrats to focus too much on abortion at the expense of the border mess and the economy.
“It’s not about choice. It’s not about minimum wage. … It’s about the border and, to some degree, it’s about the economy,” Paterson said.
During her nominating acceptance speech in Chicago last week, Harris said she would sign sweeping border security legislation blocked by Republicans.
Biden, 81, who dropped his re-election bid under pressure from party stalwarts, had issued an executive order to crack down on illegal border-crossers, but his administration still allowed 100,000 migrants to enter the country in June, according to federal documents.
