Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard sharply denounced President Joe Biden Saturday over the ongoing border crisis, comparing Biden, whom she called her friend, to an “autocrat” for attacking Border Patrol agents who were falsely accused of abusing Haitian migrants.
What did Biden say?
Biden commented on the controversy involving the mounted Border Patrol agents on Friday by regurgitating the debunked narrative of migrant abuse and promising the Border Patrol agents involved would “pay.”
“It was horrible [what] you saw. To see people treated like they did [sic]. Horses nearly running people over and people being strapped,” Biden said at the White House.
“It’s outrageous. I promise you those people will pay. They will be investigated. There will be consequences,” he declared.
Speaking with Fox News host Jesse Watters, Gabbard condemned Biden for attacking the mounted Border Patrol agents despite facts that clearly showed the agents were not guilty of abusing the migrants.
“I consider Joe Biden a friend. But he’s absolutely wrong and he needs to apologize to the American people for saying what he said,” Gabbard said.
“Here’s why: He’s somebody who’s been very outspoken as being against autocrats, autocracies, dictators. But what he essentially did was act as judge, jury, and executioner for these Customs and Border Patrol agents on horseback,” she added.
Gabbard said the practical effect of Biden’s public condemnation is a compromise in the integrity of the investigation into the incident. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed Friday the investigation would continue despite Biden’s remarks.
“How can they expect to have a fair outcome to an investigation when the president of the United States has already declared their guilt and that they will be punished?” Gabbard questioned.
“The bigger issue that this points to, which is one that we all need to be concerned about, is that if we are no longer a country of laws, if we are no longer a country where we know we will be presumed innocent unless proven guilty, then we don’t have a democracy,” she explained. “And that’s the increasing feeling that a lot of us have is we are losing our democracy and moving closer and closer to what essentially is an autocracy.”
The former Hawaii representative said the “saddest part” about the wrongful condemnation of the Border Patrol agents is that it highlighted how the “powerful elite” are “working with the media, working with the deep state” to “preserve their power, their position, or money.”
“Who suffers as a result of this? It’s the American people, it’s our democracy, and they don’t care about the cost and the toll that [it] takes,” Gabbard said.
