As I continued my most recent radio tour across our Republic, discussing the end of Title 42 and its effects on the already-mounting crisis on the southern border, in Wheeling, West Virginia, host Ron Potesta and I focused in on the potential consequences this could have on President Biden's re-election hopes. Focusing on key battleground states crucial to presidential victory, recent polling by a liberal-leaning firm shows 58% of voters in these states disapproving of the Biden Administration's handling of the crisis, while only 32% approve. Additionally, 50% believe President Biden is ignoring the situation entirely and 47% trust Republicans more on this issue compared to 39% trusting Democrats.
In short, if it's bad enough that Mayor Eric Adams of New York City is publicly calling out President Biden on this issue, then that not only showcases the severity of the problem for our Republic but also the severe implications on the electability of Democrats in 2024.
To learn more about TBOR Action's efforts on topics including election integrity, please click here.
The following transcript from this interview is presented in its entirety with minor edits:
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
border, chaos, Republicans, Title 42, Trump, immigration, criminals, Title 8.
SPEAKERS
Ron Potesta and TBOR Action President John Pudner.
Ron Potesta 00:00
Title 8 is going to be back in play once Title 42 comes to a close tonight at 11:59 pm. Let's talk about this with the President of Take Back Our Republic Action, who was also an aide to George W. Bush back in 2000, and he is also the only person in US history to run a campaign defeating a Majority Leader in a primary. John Pudner is joining the program. John, good morning to you, sir.
John Pudner 00:29
Good morning. Thanks for having me.
Ron Potesta 00:32
Now, unless someone decides to intervene, someone being the judicial system, Title 42 will come to an end tonight. John, gives everyone an idea of what will happen once Title 42 becomes history and Title eight is back in play?
John Pudner 00:54
Well, Title 42 stopped 2.8 million illegal immigrants from settling here in the last couple of years. So, let's just assume a few million additional illegal immigrants will come into the country over the two years after it runs out beyond what normally would have happened.
Ron Potesta 01:11
So, it looked like this was for a health issue. Now that the pandemic is pretty much part of the past, they're lifting that much to the chagrin of Republicans, who would like to see Title 42 remain.
John Pudner 01:28
That's right, and say you mentioned having beaten the Majority Leader 10 years ago - the commercial we used to beat him at a big screenshot of "Obama and Canter Amnesty", and so this issue has been that alive for decades. Now, while you mentioned the strong Republican opposition to it, we should also note that Mayor Eric Adams of New York said that Biden's policy on this is destroying New York City and that they can't handle the influx. Recent political polling showed that 58% don't approve of his handling of this, only 32% do, so it's going well beyond Republicans. I mean, politically, this is practically every independent, and some pretty staunch Democrats, seeing the disaster that's coming.
Ron Potesta 02:16
John, is there a way that politicians can get together and put a little more teeth into Title 8?
John Pudner 02:24
Yes, they certainly can, and their excuse is kind of, "Well, this thing's expiring. We couldn't do anything." My gosh, Republicans would have signed on to quite a bit to fill this in. They knew this was coming for a couple of years. They certainly had time, they had certainly very willing Republicans, could have won some Democrats over, but it was such a political issue where, when you come out of a partisan Democratic primary, and you have to practically be open border to get your party's nomination, then you're left with no political will, despite the overwhelming percentage of people who want a tough policy, want this to be orderly. And let me say, of course, people understand some immigrants are needed, but you have to secure the border first, then you can do an orderly flow of how many are needed and can walk right into being productive members of society, versus just over-flooding cities across the country.
Ron Potesta 03:28
John Pudner is my guest. Now, earlier in the week, President Biden made a comment that the border was going to be, "chaotic for a while", and that's not a good look when the leader of the free world is even admitting that the border isn't going to be a very fun place for a while.
John Pudner 03:49
Well, what an advertisement to come over. I mean, there are plenty of good people just being exploited by someone as they try to come across the border, but the criminals are the ones who hear that and say, "Hey, criminals love chaos." If you're trying to run drugs across the border, if you're trying to get any of these illicit, including dangerous ones that can kill Americans, what more would you love to hear? What you want is a lack of order. There was an old funny TV show where the criminal masterminds were called Chaos - you want chaos in any setting to get away with things. So, here you have a leader of the free world saying we'll have chaos, in essence, we're not going to be able to track what you're doing here, and he's just inviting the criminals to come along. And again, not saying a high percentage of the 3 million people are turned away are criminals, I'm just say that if you have that many coming in, it's easy to bring criminal enterprises in.
Ron Potesta 04:49
John, one of the other problems is the fact that our judicial system, in terms of hearing immigration cases, is backed all the way up to 2027. We're talking four years down the road. So, there are scenarios in which when someone decides that they are seeking asylum into this country, and they have the proper paperwork, thanks to Title 8, they'll be brought into this country, and they're going to be in the country for four years before their cases heard.
John Pudner 05:24
Ironically, I've got knowledge of this only I have some good friends that are law enforcement guys with Texas immigration. I went to their office a few years ago, and they have boxes of files stretching up and down all of their hallways because the filing cabinets didn't fit them. Each one of those files is a case they're supposed to deal with, and they've done pictures of this publicly, so I'm not revealing anything internal, but it's absurd. They look at all of this for just a few lawyers in the office who were supposed to process these. It's just mind-boggling, and that's why turning away these 2.8 million right away at the border, and not having to go through that process, was so crucial, and now you're having it wide open again.
Ron Potesta 06:14
John, that's the biggest argument that I've heard to turn everyone away at the border, and I understand, and I feel bad for someone who's looking to get away from a war-torn country, or a horrible country, coming in search of the American dream, and as you pointed out, some of these people, most of these people, have good intentions. But, the reality is, our legal system is backed up so much, it's unfair to allow someone to come into this country for four years before their case is heard.
John Pudner 06:54
Yes, and part of what President Trump did is he worked with the Mexican government to get them processed on the other side of the border. That's what was key in having them not in the country yet, and I think the Trump Administration was helpful to them, teaching them how to do it, and coordinating with another country, to our southern border. But now, you're throwing that all out, you're just saying, as you said, it's chaos at the border now. Come on! No one will be able to stop you!
Ron Potesta 07:22
Now, we do want to credit Mexico, because apparently, thanks to an agreement with the Mexican president, they will continue to receive individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Those are the citizens that the US will send back across the border. So, at least Mexico is doing its job from that standpoint.
John Pudner 07:45
Yeah, that's correct, and this is why just the demagoguery against Trump on his talk and immigration is wrong. He worked hard for a process with Mexico, he did coordinate with the country to set up a process that works, so that's often ignored when the left attacks and tries to act like they've got the humanitarian argument. As we've seen from the horror stories, this isn't a humanitarian argument at all. They're confining people to this dream, and suddenly, they're ending up on the streets having been exploited all the way over the border.
Ron Potesta 08:21
John, before we let you go, and we're speaking with John Pudner of Take Back Our Republic Action, former President Trump is currently leading by a wide margin in all the polls as far as the Republican choice is concerned. Do you anticipate former President Trump being the Republican nominee, and ultimately, the President when we get to the November 24' elections?
John Pudner 08:49
I'm gonna flip flop a little from November because, at the time, I thought probably DeSantis was the favorite just because he was coming off such a strong win in Florida, but I believe that the New York prosecutor has done a lot of political work for Trump. Whatever the legal reality is, the fact that most Americans think that the prosecution of him is politically motivated has certainly strengthened him among primary voters. I think it's still an open-ended question on the impact on general election voters, but it certainly has made him once again the solid favorite, whereas in November, I actually thought DeSantis was the favorite.
Ron Potesta 09:29
John, thank you so much for coming on board. really do appreciate it.