The impending failure of a bipartisan border deal reached by senators this weekend appears set to hand President Joe Biden an issue that he can wield against former President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers on the campaign trail.
Biden on Tuesday promised to blame Republicans in Congress directly for the apparent failure of the deal, saying the country will hear about how those Republicans caved to Trump’s attempts to scuttle the bill after months of intense bipartisan negotiations.
The bill would have included some of the most significant changes in immigration policy seen in decades, along with aid for Ukraine and Israel. But any hope for the deal seemed to be dashed after Trump came out against it, apparently so he could campaign on Biden’s perceived weakness on the border.
Speaking from the White House on Tuesday, Biden vowed to turn Trump’s strategy around on him.
“If the bill fails,” Biden said, “I want to be absolutely clear about something: the American people are going to know why.”
The apparent failure of the bill could give Biden a political upper hand, allowing him the opportunity to say that a deal on the border had been brokered until Trump torpedoed it, effectively punting what has been his most challenging domestic issue to his likely 2024 rival.
“Every day between now and November the American people are going to know the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends. It’s time for Republicans in Congress to show a little courage, to show a little spine, to make clear to the American people that you work for them, not for anyone else.”
But the failure of the bill would still leave unresolved an intractable political issue which has vexed presidents and Congresses of both parties for…
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