Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jerry Nadler (R-NY) pulled no punches on Tuesday in blasting some of his GOP House colleagues for “fear-mongering” when it comes to the southern border and publicly shamed members for sharing a bombastic story from the New York Post that has since been retracted.
Nadler’s opening remarks at a hearing titled “The Biden Border Crisis: Part III” took aim at the House GOP narrative surrounding the border, which the New York Democrat argued was sensationalized for political purposes. Nadler then brought up the Post story about homeless veterans being displaced by migrants in his home state and declared his GOP colleagues who shared the story, which at the time had yet to be debunked, “are not ones to let facts get in the way of a good story.”
“In the weeks leading up to Title 42, the expiration, they stoked fears that we would see chaos and massive numbers of migrants crossing at the border. And yet what happened? Thanks to the policies put in place by the Biden administration, the numbers at the border dropped by, dropped by 70% following the expiration of Title 42,” Nadler began, referring to the Trump-ear policy that allowed for quicker removal of migrants.
“But the fear-mongering continues. Unfortunately, my colleagues are not ones to let facts get in the way of a good story. Latest example comes from my home state of New York, where Orange County Republicans claimed that homeless veterans were being displaced by migrants,” Nadler continued, adding:
This was quickly echoed by the speaker of the House and other congressional Republicans and even by one of our witnesses. On the screen, are tweet after a tweet by my Republican colleagues amplifying this story to stoke fears about the border and to distract from their own failures to enact meaningful solutions.
Nadler then paused to show tweets from GOP members like Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Troy Nehls (R-TX). Nehls’s tweet, for example, recapped the Post story and then asked ominously, “How long until this happens in your city?”
“Yet the claims contained in the story have turned out to be completely unfounded with even the New York Post running a retraction,” Nadler continued, concluding:
So here we are again in another hearing about the, quote, ‘Biden border crisis,’ close quote. I’m sure that no matter what happens at the border, we will continue to have hearings on this topic and we will continue to see partisan messaging bills that have no chance of ever becoming law. As one of my Republican colleagues said, ‘There’s a reason why we haven’t gotten significant border security done and why we haven’t seen significant immigration reform done. It is in the interests of many politicians to have this crisis continue to flare.’
Watch the full clip above.
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