Joe Biden claimed that the US border patrol endorsed him during Thursday’s first presidential debate — but the Border Patrol union immediately shot back and denied it.
When asked about his border patrol policy during the event in Atlanta, Biden said that “the border patrolmen” endorsed him during a question on immigration and concerns of American voters about the US-Mexico border.
"By the way, the Border Patrol endorsed me, endorsed my position,” the president said. He added: “I’ve changed it in a way you now have a situation where there’s 40 percent fewer people coming across the border illegally, it’s better than when he left office.”
But the Border Patrol Union, the official union of those employees, quickly posted on social media to the contrary.
“To be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden,” the Border Patrol Union posted on X on Thursday night.
Biden’s remark likely referred to the National Border Patrol Council’s (NBPC) endorsement of the legislative framework released by a bipartisan group of senators earlier this year aimed at addressing border security.
The White House supported that legislation but it died in the Senate after House Republicans made clear it would not pass, and Donald Trump urged Republican senators to vote against it.
WOW. Watch Joe Biden’s face as President Trump calls him out for opening the border… Every American should watch this clip. #PresidentialDebate pic.twitter.com/Es0Lxd4goC
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) June 28, 2024
Trump repeatedly attacked his opponent over illegal immigration during the debate, accusing Biden of allowing unprecedented numbers of migrants to pour into the US and overwhelm social safety net programs. He argued that under Biden, “every state” had become a border state.
“The fact is that his big kill on the Black people is he’s let millions of people come in through the border. They’ve taken Black jobs now. It could be 18, 19, even 20 million people. They’re taking Black jobs,” the former president claimed. “And they’re taking Hispanic jobs. You haven’t seen it yet, but you’re going to see something that is the worst in our history.”
His remark caused the phrase “Black jobs” to trend on Twitter, where users questioned what careers Trump had in mind when he uttered the remarks onstage.
The debate itself was a 90-minute display of worrying stamina from Biden, who sounded raspy and at least one point appeared to lose track of what he was saying.
Trump, meanwhile, stuck the knife in deeper and accused his opponent of not being fully aware of what he was saying as the two stood next to each other onstage.
The ex-president put on a calm face but repeatedly bashed his opponent as one of the worst presidents in US history while Biden derided Trump as a convicted felon, accused him of ignoring his duty on January 6, and attacked the 45th president of the United States as a threat to democracy.
