Finally, after burying the growing debacle at the border, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt on Tuesday shocked by calling out Kamala Harris’s bizarre lies and attempts to pretend that “we’ve” visited the border. In an interview that ran on Tuesday’s Today, Holt repeatedly grilled the Vice President. He began by lecturing the Democrat, “What [Americans] do see at their own border, children being lowered over fences, children coming in with phone numbers stenciled on their hand.”
Holt demanded, “The question has come up and you heard it here and you'll hear it again, I'm sure. Why not visit the border? Why not see what Americans are seeing in this crisis?” Harris sputtered: “We are going to the border.”
The news anchor wasn’t content with the usual liberal media line of not pressing too hard. He even corrected Harris's attempted lies:
HOLT: Just quickly put a button, do you have any plans to visit the border?
HARRIS: At some point. We are going to the border. We are going to the border. We've been to the border. So this whole -- this whole thing about the border, we've been to the border. We've been to the border.
HOLT: You haven't been to the border.
HARRIS: And I haven't been to Europe. I don't understand the point that you're making. I'm not discounting the importance of the border.
“We’ve been to the border”? Who is we? Acting like a real journalist, Holt quizzed, “So how quickly does this change what we see at the border?”
He even mocked the lame attempt by Harris, who is in Guatemala, to tell illegals “don’t come.”
In the news conference here in Guatemala City, you had a message for would be migrants, “Don't come.” Why should they believe you, when they know that people are getting in?
Holt deserves kudos for the interview. It just would be nicer if examples like this one weren’t so rare. As MRC Research Director Rich Noyes pointed out in May, the networks buried the border crisis as it got worse. Holt on May 23, 2021 blandly described the President as “facing a challenge at the Southern border.” So while the journalist did well on Tuesday, he’s still a bit late.
Holt is also the same guy who “winced” at Hillary Clinton being called a liar in 2017.
A partial transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
NBC's Today
05/08/2021
7:06 a.m. EasternCRAIG MELVIN: Turning to the ongoing crisis at the southern border, the focus of Vice President Kamala Harris' first overseas trip.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: She heads to Mexico yesterday after spending yesterday in Guatemala where she announced several initiatives and delivered a message to potential migrants there. Do not come to the United States. The vice president also sat down exclusively with NBC's Lester Holt who began by asking her about that warning.
LESTER HOLT: In the news conference here in Guatemala City, you had a message for would be migrants, “don't come.” Why should they believe you, when they know that people are getting in?
(....)
HOLT: Americans don't see a lot on a daily basis. What they do see at their own border, children being lowered over fences, children coming in with phone numbers stenciled on their hand. And so the question has come up and you heard it here and you'll hear it again, I'm sure. Why not visit the border? Why not see what Americans are seeing in this crisis?
KAMALA HARRIS: Well, we are going to the border. We have to deal with what's happening at the border, there's no question about that. That's not a debatable point. But we have to understand there's a reason people are arriving at our border and ask what is that reason and then identify the problem so we can fix it.
HOLT: Let's talk about the corruption issue. You're notably not visiting El Salvador or Honduras where you have leaders who have had links to corruption. Do you have enough reliable partners in this northern triangle, in this region, to do what needs to be done?
HARRIS: So we are doing the work in the region as a whole. We've been engaged as an administration, as a country, at a high level with leaders in all three of the countries.
(....)
HOLT: So how quickly does this change what we see at the border?
(....)
HOLT: President Biden as Vice President led a very similar effort. What's significantly different about what you're doing this time?
(....)
HOLT: And why will it be successful this time if it wasn't in the past?
HARRIS: Well, I think there was success about what happened in the past. Again, when you look at what you're doing now, you're seeing progress. And so let's not overlook progress.
HOLT: Just quickly put a button, do you have any plans to visit the border?
HARRIS: At some point. We are going to the border. We are going to the border. We've been to the border. So this whole -- this whole thing about the border, we've been to the border. We've been to the border.
HOLT: You haven't been to the border.
HARRIS: And I haven't been to Europe. I don't understand the point that you're making. I'm not discounting the importance of the border.
HOLT: I mention because Republicans have come at you at this. But Democratic congressman Cuellar has a border district and said to you and the President, “Come.”
HARRIS: Listen, I care about what's happening at the border. I'm in Guatemala because my focus is dealing with the root causes of migration. There may be some who think that is not important. But it is my firm belief that if we care about what's happening at the border, we better care about the root causes and address them. So that's what I'm doing.
