Just days into her 2024 presidential campaign against former President Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has already had a major leak.
A note from Harris’ camp shows the coordinated effort to reshape public perception of her mismanagement of the U.S. southern border after President Joe Biden named her the administration’s “border czar.”
The leaked document, reportedly circulated among Democratic lawmakers, has exposed the talking points aimed at deflecting criticism of Harris’ role in the illegal immigration crisis.
It instructs Democrats on how to discuss Harris’s controversial stint by claiming that “there has never been such a position” as border czar. It also insists that Harris “was NOT asked to lead on the Admin’s immigration or border enforcement policies” and that the vice president’s focus was to “change conditions in OTHER countries, NOT U.S. border.”
Wow.
A Democrat lawmaker confirmed to FOX that Dems have received a piece of paper with talking points/lies about how to discuss Kamala Harris' role at the Southern border.
They are already using the exact lines.https://t.co/CITguKLWCD pic.twitter.com/Bo8pxla61M
— Bobby Burack (@burackbobby_) July 25, 2024
Under Harris’ watch, illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border have reached record highs.
But you won’t hear that from the mainstream media. NBC News recently published a piece suggesting that the term “border czar” was invented by Harris’s critics, echoing the leaked memo’s language almost verbatim.
Despite referring to Harris multiple times as the “border czar,” Axios claimed that Harris was never called that. They were later forced to print a redaction.
“No, Kamala Harris is not a ‘border czar.’ But that doesn’t matter to Republicans,” wrote Vox.
Democratic leadership has also fallen in line. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries quickly spread the talking points, telling reporters Thursday that Harris “was never assigned the position of border czar. They’re making that up, because the extreme MAGA Republicans are in full meltdown.”
Harris has recently faced increased criticism for her mishandling of the border crisis. The House of Representatives recently passed a resolution condemning Harris and the Biden administration for their “failure to secure the United States border.”
As Harris positions herself as the presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential race, critics argue that the Harris campaign is more focused on controlling the media narrative — instead of addressing the ongoing crisis.