If you watch Fox News on any given evening, you are probably aware that the situation on the southern border is not getting any better. (Of course, if you get all of your news from CNN or MSDNC you probably think everything is fine.) The problem is arguably getting worse, except in parts of Texas where the governor is taking matters into his own hands. At this point, however, there are increasing signs that the legacy media’s efforts to cover for Biden and the Democrats are coming up short. Even the Associated Press published an article this morning covering some recent polling that they believe will be “a concern” for the Biden administration. The numbers show that significant portions of Biden’s base are now aware of the problems that his border policies have created and they are not happy about it.
In his speeches and online posts, Trump has ramped up anti-immigrant rhetoric as he seeks the White House a third time, casting migrants as dangerous criminals “poisoning the blood” of America. Hitting the nation’s deepest fault lines of race and national identity, his messaging often relies on falsehoods about migration. But it resonates with many of his core supporters going back a decade, to when “build the wall” chants began to ring out at his rallies.
President Joe Biden and his allies discuss the border very differently. The Democrat portrays the situation as a policy dispute that Congress can fix and hits Republicans in Washington for backing away from a border security deal after facing criticism from Trump.
But in a potentially worrying sign for Biden, Trump’s message appears to be resonating with key elements of the Democratic coalition that Biden will need to win over this November.
The AP is careful when describing Donald Trump’s comments as “anti-immigrant rhetoric.” They highlight his remarks about illegal migrants “poisoning the blood of the country” and being “dangerous criminals.” They almost completely ignore the fact that a lot of these migrants have absolutely proven themselves to be dangerous criminals, of course. Just ask the family of Laken Riley.
And yet the poll numbers the AP is referencing are too much for even them to ignore. In fact, one of them is their own poll conducted in conjunction with the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research last week. That survey found that more than 40% of Democrats, including 55% of Black adults and 73% of Hispanic adults disapprove of Joe Biden’s handling of the border and immigration issues. A second poll from Pew during the same period showed that 45% of all likely voters view the situation at the border as a “crisis” and another 32% described it as “a major problem.” That adds up to 78%, which is a huge slice of the nation so we’re not just talking about Republicans and right-leaning independents.
Should we really be surprised by these numbers? Most people, particularly in the larger cities don’t even need to tune in to cable news to know how bad the problem has become. They really only need to look out their windows or venture out to do some shopping. There are migrants and homeless encampments as far as the eye can see. Many of the stores people traditionally shop at are either closed or operating on reduced hours because of how often they are being looted. Prostitutes and drug dealers are showing up in neighborhoods where such things rarely happened in the past. Most people simply can’t turn a blind eye to all of this and it’s obvious that the open border is at the root of most of these issues.
I would, however, once again caution Republicans and conservatives against reading too much into these numbers and falling prey to unjustified overconfidence. It’s clearly true that many of those Black and Hispanic voters are unhappy with Biden’s policies and the current conditions around the country. But that doesn’t mean that they are all rushing out to buy MAGA hats and sending donations to Donald Trump. Some probably will, and it wouldn’t take all that many to flip a number of swing states and remove Biden from office. But many will eventually come home to the Democrats rather than pull a lever for the Bad Orange Man. So the GOP needs to avoid complacency at all costs and maximize turnout in every precinct around the country. There’s simply too much riding on this race to allow another opportunity for a red wave to dwindle to a trickle.
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