On Monday morning's Fox & Friends, Fox News fill-in co-anchor Rachel Campos-Duffy and contributor Joe Concha devoted a segment to discussing ABC's Martha Raddatz trying to blame Republicans for record numbers of illegal immigrants flooding across the Southern border. The segment featured a clip of President Joe Biden from before the 2020 election in which he promised to make it easier for migrants to get into the country, contradicting Raddatz's suggestion that the President had never claimed the southern border would be open.
The segment began with a clip of Raddatz from Sunday's This Week interviewing Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, blaming him and other Republicans for migrants believing the border is open and crossing illegally. Here's Raddatz:
-- talk about open borders -- I don't believe I have ever heard President Biden say, "We have an open border -- come on over." People I have heard say it are you -- are former President Trump, Ron DeSantis. That message reverberates in Mexico and beyond.
Campos-Duffy then responded to Raddatz by introducing a clip of Biden from one of the Democrat presidential debates in 2019:
Wow. ABC's Martha Raddatz challenging Texas Governor Abbott over his criticism of the Biden administration's open border policy, insisting the President never urged migrants to come -- illegal immigrants to come here. But remember when Biden said this.
Then came a clip of then-candidate Biden dated September 12, 2019:
I would, in fact, make sure that there is -- we immediately surge to the border all those people who are seeking asylum. They deserve to be heard -- that's who we are. We're a nation that says, "If you want to flee, and you're fleeing oppression, you should come."
The clip came from a debate hosted by Raddatz's ABC colleague, George Stephanopoulos. Even though Raddatz had taken part in the post-debate discussion, she still claimed she had never heard Biden say the border would be open.
Concha soon commented:
Martha Raddatz, Rachel, went into this interview on a mission -- not for the truth in the name of journalism and not getting to the true story of what's happening on the Southern border, which is in a crisis -- she went there to push a narrative, a narrative that says that what's happening at the border is simply fearmongering by Governors Abbott and DeSantis and the former President Trump.
The two Fox News regulars recalled that illegal immigrants had been seen wearing T-shirts praising Biden. In fact, in October 2021, Fox & Friends Saturday showed video of the leader of one of the caravans saying that President Biden had encouraged them to cross.
Transcripts follow:
FNC's Fox & Friends
December 19, 2022
7:32 a.m. EasternMARTHA RADDATZ, ABC NEWS (from December 18 This Week show): -- talk about open borders -- I don't believe I have ever heard President Biden say, "We have an open border -- come on over." People I have heard say it are you -- are former President Trump, Ron DeSantis. That message reverberates in Mexico and beyond.
RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY, FILL-IN CO-HOST: Wow. ABC's Martha Raddatz challenging Texas Governor Abbott over his criticism of the Biden administration's open border policy, insisting the President never urged migrants to come -- illegal immigrants to come here. But remember when Biden said this.
JOE BIDEN (as presidential candidate, dated September 12, 2019, from ABC debate): I would, in fact, make sure that there is -- we immediately surge to the border all those people who are seeking asylum. They deserve to be heard -- that's who we are. We're a nation that says, "If you want to flee, and you're fleeing oppression, you should come."
CAMPOS-DUFFY: Fox News contributor Joe Concha is here to react. Joe, it's remarkable, not just because we have the video showing that, but also this is a talking point that's going on right now where they're saying, "If you noticed that the border is open and that cities are becoming overwhelmed, then you are the one advertising that the border is open, and that it's your fault that people are coming here illegally. What do you say?
JOE CONCHA, FOX NEWS MEDIA ANALYST: Rachel, yeah, don't believe your lying eyes, right? Don't watch a Bill Melugin report we run daily on this network. Martha Raddatz, Rachel, went into this interview on a mission -- not for the truth in the name of journalism and not getting to the true story of what's happening on the Southern border, which is in a crisis -- she went there to push a narrative, a narrative that says that what's happening at the border is simply fearmongering by Governors Abbott and DeSantis and the former President Trump.
And Joe Biden -- as you said in that Democratic primary debate that is a national audience said, quote, "We should immediately surge the border -- migrants should," unquote. And there are photos of migrants with T-shirts on saying, "Biden let us in," after he became President. I mean, Martha Raddatz did her audience on ABC a huge disservice here. And the real and sad issue here, Rachel, it's all intentional because, again, the pictures are the pictures, and the numbers are the numbers.
CAMPOS-DUFFY: I was just going to say, there's also the data. We know what the data was. It was the least amount of illegal immigration we'd had in 40 years under the Trump administration -- now we have the worst crisis we've ever seen. The numbers show it -- the pictures show it. And, by the way, those T-shirts that you talked about with, you know, Joe Biden on it, that the migrants were coming over, and the illegal migrants were coming over, and those are provided by NGOs that are funded by the Biden administration with our tax dollars. So, yeah, absolutely unbelievable, a total mess of an interview with Martha Raddatz.
