OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump is still months away from officially capturing the 2024 Republican nomination, but he is actively considering who he will choose as a running mate, and he dropped another new name into the mix on Thursday.
During a visit to the U.S. border in Texas, Trump was accompanied by several state officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, who the former president said was on his shortlist for VP, Newsweek reported.
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity after his tour of the border near Eagle Pass, which has seen thousands of migrants crossing illegally since President Biden took office and reversed nearly all of Trump’s immigration and border security policies, the 45th president called Abbott a “spectacular man,” adding the governor is “absolutely” on his short list for running mate.
Abbott would “certainly he would be somebody that I would very much consider,” Trump told the host.
Newsweek added:
Eagle Pass is a key area of contention after a Supreme Court ruling in January said federal agents could cut razor wire. The Biden adminstration argued it prevented them from accessing important parts of the border.
Since, Texas has blocked federal agents from entering, putting the state directly at odds on the border issue with Trump’s political foe President Joe Biden.
Biden also visited Texas this week, where he called on Trump to “join” him in an effort to pass the bipartisan border bill that stalled in Congress after the latter urged Republicans to block it.
Trump and his allies in Congress rejected the bill because it granted more powers to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to bypass current immigration law while still allowing as many as 5,000 people into the country illegally. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) declared the measure “dead on arrival” in the House if it had passed the Senate because of those issues and others.
Trump and Johnson have also said Biden already possesses the authority to clamp down on illegal crossings simply by reinstating Trump’s policies.
Biden is in very hot water again with a large number of Americans over a term he used to describe the millions of people who have been allowed to stay in the U.S. after illegally crossing the border under his watch.
During Biden’s visit to a quiet part of the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, the White House released a statement highlighting elements of the unpassable Senate border bill.
The statement said: “The bill also includes $1.4 billion for cities and states who are providing critical services to newcomers, and would expedite work permits for people who are in the country and qualify.”
Critics took issue with the use of the word “newcomers.”
The Biden White House is now referring to illegal immigrants as "newcomers."
Joe Biden is not serious about stopping the illegal immigration into the United States. This is a catastrophe by design. pic.twitter.com/Q7wB62uxsJ
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) February 29, 2024
Inappropriate use of the term comes the same week an illegal alien from Venezuela who had been arrested before was charged in the brutal slaying of a University of Georgia nursing student, 22-year-old Laken Riley. Authorities said he beat her so badly that parts of her skull were crushed.
“The Biden White House is now referring to illegal immigrants as ‘newcomers.’ Joe Biden is not serious about stopping the illegal immigration into the United States. This is a catastrophe by design,” House Republicans — who have still yet to impeach Biden over his dereliction of duty regarding the border – wrote on the X platform.
Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) said on X, “This is ABSURD. He has no interest in putting an end to this invasion. He just wants to use more of your tax dollars to aid and abet it.”
Turning Point’s Charlie Kirk added, “A newcomer just brutally murdered Laken Riley along with 100,000 other Americans every year from fentanyl poisoning. Your government hates you.”
Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) wrote, “While touting the $1.4 billion dollars of taxpayer money they want to spend on feeding and housing illegal immigrants, Biden’s @WhiteHouse just referred to illegal crossers as ‘newcomers.’”
