White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki dismissed a question about the timing and purpose behind Vice President Kamala Harris’s upcoming trip to the border.
During a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Psaki why Harris is visiting the border “when earlier this month she dismissed a trip like that, saying it would be a grand gesture.”
Psaki replied, “She also said in an interview with NBC that she would be open to going to the border if it was an appropriate time.”
He then went on to ask the press secretary if it was important for the White House to have her seen at the border before former President Donald Trump makes it there next week.
“We made an assessment within our government about when it was an appropriate time for her to go to the border,” Psaki said.
Watch part of the press briefing below:
Q: Was it important for the White House to have her seen at the border before former president Trump has a trip there next week?
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) June 23, 2021
Jen Psaki: We made an assessment within our government when it was an appropriate time to go to the border.
No one cares about Trump. pic.twitter.com/X4GHY56Vx9
Harris will reportedly “make a stop in El Paso, Texas on Friday,” along with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Trump said in a statement, “After months of ignoring the crisis at the Southern Border, it is great that we got Kamala Harris to finally go and see the tremendous destruction and death that they’ve created — a direct result of Biden ending my very tough but fair Border policies.”
He continued, “Harris and Biden were given the strongest Border in American history. And now, it is by far the worst in American history. If Governor Abbot and I weren’t going next week, she would have never gone.”
The vice president has continued to receive criticism from Republicans for not visiting the border sooner.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said during a Fox News interview last week, “It’s almost like a comedy show. She’s so terrified. You know, it reminds me of that old show, ‘Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?’ She’ll go everywhere except the border because she’s afraid of what’s going on down there, and they have no solutions.”