‘How Do You Explain!’: CNN’s S.E. Cupp Gets Into Heated Debate With Fellow Analyst Over Border Crisis
CNN political commentators S.E. Cupp and John Avlon sparred Monday over the border crisis, with Cupp alleging Democrats bear a good brunt of the blame.
The Senate released the long-awaited text of a border package in exchange for Ukraine aid. The bill would appropriate $48 billion to Ukraine, and nearly $16 billion to Israel and fund border security measures. Among the border provisions include more funds for hiring new immigration judges to expedite the processing of asylum and deportation proceedings as well as law enforcement to detain and remove illegal migrants.
The bill includes a provision that says the border can remain open so long as less than 5,000 migrants enter daily. Under the bill, authorities can remove migrants without removal proceedings if the week-long average of entries increases to more than 5,000 per day. The process would continue until the two-week average number of illegal entries decreases to 3,750 persons per day.
“There’s a lot of blame to go around here, let me just sort of call balls and strikes. It’s a little late for a Hail Mary. We’re in year four of Biden’s presidency. Democrats and Biden, I think, let the border get a little out of control and now there’s a sense of urgency, I wonder why,” Cupp said.
“And for Republicans obviously, not reading the bill and deciding they’re going to kill it because unelected Speaker of the House Donald Trump has decided he wants to use it for an election is pretty gross, too. No wonder people don’t have confidence that government can solve problems.”
CNN’s John Avlon pushed back, arguing the deal was an example of a functioning government, calling the legislation bipartisan despite significant Republican pushback. Avlon then argued Republicans were cowards and were to blame for the continuing border crisis by not voting to pass the legislation, prompting pushback from Cupp.
“But how do you explain Democrats having both chambers, right, not doing something on immigration, we can look back at Obama’s first two years too, nothing on immigration–”
“–I mean, c’mon, we got here because both parties decided it was politically profitable to leave the system broken,” Cupp continued.
Avlon said he disagreed and that past presidents have pushed for border security but have hit roadblocks with “far-right” Republicans. Cupp then said the crisis had only gotten worse due to bad policy before the panel’s tensions began to simmer down.
House Republicans have vowed to kill the legislation, calling it a “magnet” for illegal immigration. Several Republicans argue the legislation does little to curb the flow of migrants, with New York Rep. Elise Stefanik calling it a “non-starter.” (RELATED: ‘Just Take The L’: James Lankford Gets Ratioed For Defending Border Bill On X)
Republican Arizona Rep. Eli Crane made a similar argument to Cupp’s, posting on X that “the Senate border ‘deal’ is an unserious attempt to show progress in an election year when in reality, they bent the knee to Biden’s open-border agenda.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered more than 302,000 illegal immigrants in December. More than 380,000 illegal migrants have been encountered at the southern border during the first two months of fiscal year 2024, which started Oct. 1.
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This article was published by The Daily Caller News Foundation and is reproduced with permission.
Image Credit: Josh Hallett
