Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg did Biden no favors during an NBC News interview.
Buttigieg was asked about the crisis at the United States southern border as the president’s approval rating over the border in is in the twenties.
“Let me ask you about what we are seeing at the border. Recently, the administration sent 800 active-duty troops to the Texas border to deal with the surge in migrants, some record numbers this past week. Was the Biden administration caught off guard by this latest surge of migrants?” asked “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker.
“Well, what you saw was the administration, as always, responding as needed to conditions being proactive where necessary,” Buttigieg responded.
Welker pressed Pete. “Were you caught off guard, though?” she asked again.
Here’s where he slipped.
“Look, the president did what needed to be done. And often that involves a rapid response, like the rapid response that this administration directed. But also what we see is a political dynamic where some people seem to prefer that the problem continue, rather than to do something to actually solve it,” Buttigieg said.
“Did what needed to be done?” Really?
“And I have to say, that kind of reminds me of what’s going on in the funding fight, where some of the very same people who would line up to take a shot at the administration over something like air travel disruption, are also trying to disrupt us from training more air traffic controllers,” he added.
Q: “Was the Biden administration caught off guard by this latest surge of migrants?”
BUTTIGIEG: “What you saw was the administration, as always, responding as needed…”
Q: “Were you caught off guard though?”
BUTTIGIEG: “The president did what needed to be done.” pic.twitter.com/llontN4RTT
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 24, 2023
ABC: Just 23% of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of the southern border pic.twitter.com/xC2aTAF6Ms
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 24, 2023
