Mike Dubke, President Trump's former White House communications director, on Thursday told CNN hosts to “go back and check” their reporting on Vice President Kamala Harris, noting that he had previously referred to her as a “border czar.”
Harris was appointed by President Joe Biden. 2021 Vice President Harris, who has been called the “border czar” for her efforts in responding to the immigration crisis, has been portrayed differently by traditional media since she became the party's presidential candidate. When Dubke appeared on CNN News Central, she criticized the “language” that was used “at the time” to describe Vice President Harris' duties as border official, but CNN host Brianna Keilar jumped in to refute Dubke's remarks.
“Look it up. I know there's a title for it, border minister, but that's the term that was used at the time. We have an immigration issue and that needs to be discussed. So hopefully, it's a conversation where Dana asks the vice president why this flip-flopping,” Dubke said.
“Just to be clear, her mandate was to look at the drivers of immigration,” Keillor countered.
Dubke then said he was “not interested in discussing the matter,” but the CNN host insisted he “wanted to be clear” about Harris. (Related: Trump campaign spokesperson disputes with CNN host over whether Harris is “designated to be border secretary”)
“Mike, I understand what you're saying, but I need to clarify,” Keillor responded.
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Former Trump communications director tells CNN host to 'go back' and check if he called Harris 'border czar' pic.twitter.com/AFV2j3Sb9k
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 29, 2024
“At the time it was reported, and I want to be clear, at the time it was recorded, even CNN was calling her the border czar. So we're really, I think that's up for debate, but I…” Dubke said.
But Keillor insisted the outlet had not called the vice president a “border czar”, prompting Dubke to ask the hosts to “go back and double-check”.
“Well, I guess I can go back and double check,” Dubke said, “and if I'm wrong I'll take back what I said, but I'll go back and double check.”
While the Biden administration has rejected the title “border secretary,” the term has been used widely by media outlets including Axios, CNN and MSNBC. According to Fox News. Between 2021 and 2023, CNN's Ed LaVandera and Alyssa Farah Griffin both called Harris a “border czar,” the outlet reported.
Recent data Since Biden and Harris took office in 2021, border agents have encountered more than 7 million illegal immigrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics.
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