Taking a short trip north from his last interview, President John Pudner visited Lansing, Michigan, to further analyze and discuss President Biden and Trump’s dueling visits to the southern border to both witness the current border crisis firsthand and sell voters on their competing visions. Trump’s message was simple; elect me and I’ll bring a permanent end to the chaos. Biden’s, on the other hand, was not only more complicated, but reflects the drastic nature of his visit to the region.
Immigration has become a sort of Kryptonite for his chances with voters of all political stripes. Eight in ten voters say the Biden Administration has failed on the border, half of moderate and liberal Republicans say the situation at the border is a national crisis, and a majority of Independents say the crisis has led to increased violent crimes. At the same time, liberal and progressive Democrats are as equally frustrated, but have opposing concerns, saying Biden is, “declining to stand up and defend immigrant communities”, for his lack of public support for full amnesty, increases for migrant welfare, and eliminating all barriers to citizenship. It’s also reflective of his seemingly dwindling electoral paths, with polling by liberal-leaning firms as early as last year showing 58% of voters in these states disapproving of the Biden Administration's handling of the crisis, with 50% also believing Biden is ignoring the situation entirely and 47% trusting Republicans more on this issue compared to 39% trusting Democrats.
While telling notable stories of voters crossing the aisle against Biden on his handling of the crisis, host Mike Austin and President John Pudner attempt to assess the situation that, seemingly, will plague the Biden campaign throughout the year as both he and Trump continue their November-bound collision course.
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The following transcript from this interview is presented in its entirety with minor edits:
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Biden, Trump, border, issue, abortion, illegal immigrants, crime, polling.
SPEAKERS
Mike Austin and TBOR Action President John Pudner
Mike Austin 00:00
John Pudner, president of Take Back Our Republic Action, joins us now to look at this. John, good morning. So, they have these guys in two different spots. I would think they're gonna put President Biden in a spot where the border crossings aren't that bad right now.
John Pudner 00:18
Oh, that's right. They're professionals, they don't want the wrong backgrounds in any shots.
Mike Austin 00:26
In my mind, I think could this go awry at all? He's on camera, and he's aching, all of a sudden, somebody behind him comes in? Hey, I don't think it'll happen, but wouldn't it be funny?
John Pudner 00:40
I think that they're careful on the visual, but they're just some interesting trends here, and just being a numbers guy, it is inflation or immigration right now as the top issue for a quarter to 30% of people on each of those issues, and neither of them are good for him. He's been just forced down there. He's got to do something. He can't keep getting yelled at that he isn't at the border, he doesn't know what's going on, and now, there's another side of you being aloof and not understanding what we're dealing with.
Mike Austin 01:13
Is that going to be what Donald Trump thumps on all day at his visit? Is the Administration doing too little too late? Absolutely.
John Pudner 01:21
Absolutely. Trying to come in 11th hour and start talking about an issue right before an election. You know, we're pretty close right now, and I've been out with teams door-to-door, tens of thousands of doors with teams, and it's immigration as THE issue this year more than all the other issues combined. So, beyond just polling, it's top of mind, and I'm not doing him on the border. The whole country is worried about it, so it's a huge issue for him, he's been forced to the border, and you never like it when an issue that's not good for you is dictating what you do.
Mike Austin 02:04
He's gonna probably try to put the whole border issue on the Republicans.
John Pudner 02:17
That's kind of the Hail Mary he's doing here. Only between about 22% and 30% think Biden's handling it well, if you look at different polling, so he is being blamed right now. He's hoping to say he had a deal, and they wouldn't sign off, It's gridlock, trying to lessen the damage. But, it's just a huge issue for him now. Last year, it's was if it was going to be crime or abortion as the big issue. Those things are both way down, although crime is part of immigration. What do you hear when talking people to people at the door? They're talking about fentanyl, they're talking about the student being killed at the University of Georgia. On the top of everyone's mind.
Mike Austin 03:04
Talk to somebody who's in New York. A friend of mine in New York City, just the other day, was complaining about it again, so many things come and go so fast, John, but she was talking still about it in New York about those illegal immigrants who went to jail, and then they were led out, and the guy flipping the camera off, and all that's wrong. You can't do that to a New Yorker, much less than an American. So what about the economy? It's gonna be immigration and the economy in the election? It already has been?
John Pudner 03:37
Yes, that's it, and two years ago, the big question was is it going to be crime or abortion, and because of Dobbs just happening, just because it was so new, by the end of the year, 29% said they voted based on abortion and 10% on crime, and that's why Republicans didn't have the surge. But again, right now, you're talking almost 30% on inflation and almost 30% and immigration - two issues that are pretty devastating for Democrats. It's 5% abortion right now. These issues are overwhelming every other issue, so they don't have any way around addressing this issue and just trying to lessen the damage on it.
Mike Austin 04:23
Let's talk about 2022. Just two years ago, as you mentioned, crime and abortion were the top of the top of mind. We all know how that all came out. Here's the thing though. In just two years, sanctuary cities, sanctuary states, in just two years, really have been what's made this more...you know, if you're on a border state, it's forefront. My sister, I've said it before, lives in Arizona, It's right there in her backyard, but here in the Midwest, up in the interior of the country, in just two years, have sanctuary cities been what's made the border issue more real?
John Pudner 05:06
It has, and just little things like going through O'Hare Airport, where they're housing a lot of illegal immigrants, and it's a see-through window, it's almost like you've created a movie set for anyone catching a shuttle there. Just the overwhelming numbers of people and they're just these visuals that people have everywhere. They're saying it hits home because they're saying it's not just either conversation or footage from the border, it's hitting home, and even in New York, even the mayor said we can handle this.
Mike Austin 05:37
Well, it'll be interesting to see the footage and how the spin is done today. Talking to John Pudner, president of Take Back Our Republic Action, knows his stuff there, he crunches the numbers and the polling data.