Republicans no longer have abortion to run on in 2024 thanks to Donald Trump and his SCOTUS appointments. They’re running away from abortion. With good cause. They have lost everywhere abortion rights have been on the ballot in election after election since SCOTUS overturned Roe in June of 2022.
So they’ve latched onto scare-mongering about brown-skinned immigrants, the real ones at the southern border and the even scarier Others they can conjure in the minds of their voters. Immigration is too good a campaign weapon to lose before November.
Of course, they’re going to sabotage the border bill. Republicans don’t want to fix the border. They want to campaign on the border being broken. pic.twitter.com/ubBUaGWN69
Laura Ingraham claimed on her show Wednesday that she’d spoken with Trump and he’s adamant that House Republicans reject the bipartisan immigration bill passed by the U.S. Senate. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is on board (Meidas Touch):
Republican Speaker Mike Johnson admitted to Laura Ingraham on Fox News Wednesday night that he has been talking to Donald Trump “pretty frequently” about a possible deal being negotiated to fix problems at the border.
A bipartisan border deal was reached recently between Republican Senator James Lankford and Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer to solve many of the issues the country is facing at the southern border. Soon after, Laura Ingraham aired a misleading graphic on her show, cherry picking portions from the bill that would be most likely to anger hardline MAGA Republicans.
It worked.
Almost instantly, Johnson was pressured to denounce the bill and said that it would never reach the House Floor. On Wednesday, Johnson said, “I don’t think now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform, because we know how complicated that is.”
Complicated? Complicated? Not for Donald Trump, The Wizard of Wharton. He claims every problem can be fixed quickly and easily. Why not this one?
They want their weapon.
Republicans in the House have been pretty blunt about it (Business Insider):
“Let me tell you, I’m not willing to do too damn much right now to help a Democrat and to help Joe Biden’s approval rating,” Republican Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas told CNN this week. “I will not help the Democrats try to improve this man’s dismal approval ratings. I’m not going to do it. Why would I?”
Rep. Jared Mosckowitz (D-Fla.) took House Republicans to task over their grandstanding on immigration reform. He brought a prop of the Nehls quote above to reinforce the GOP’s refusal to address what they’ve made a signature campaign issue: “They want to use it to raise money. They want use it to politicize it. But they don’t want to solve the issue.”
They want their weapon.
President Joe Biden worked the problem this week with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other congressional leaders at the White House (NBC News):
“I’ve been a part of enough negotiations to know when you’re coming close to finishing, and I feel like we’re there,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told reporters. “But didn’t I say something like that last three weeks ago?”
Leaving the White House, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called Wednesday’s meeting “productive,” saying he told Biden and Democrats: “We must have change at the border — substantive policy change.”
[…]
McConnell said earlier Wednesday he expects that the Senate could vote on the emerging immigration package — tied to Ukraine aid, Israel funding and assistance for Taiwan — next week.
“We have a number of important international responsibilities. And I think it’s time to go ahead with the supplemental, and I’m anticipating it’ll be before us next week,” he said.
That prompted a speedy rebuke from Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas:
