Texas state Rep. James Talarico said Thursday that the Democratic Party "took the border for granted" during the Biden administration as he faced questions about his views on border security.
Talarico, who is running against Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton for a Texas Senate seat in the November midterm elections, was asked by MS NOW host Joe Scarborough, "So you would agree that Democrats made a big mistake in 2021, '22, '23, not focusing enough on border security, right?"
"Absolutely," Talarico said. "And I’ve called out President Biden and his administration for failing to secure our southern border. I remember talking to my colleagues in the state house who represent border communities, and they were telling me about the utter chaos along our southern border. And that’s unacceptable. We need to be about making government work for people. And this was a prime example of government not working for any of us."
OPEN BORDERS WERE INSANE, BUT POLITICIANS DIDN’T CARE. FAMILIES LIKE MINE PAID THE PRICE
Scarborough asked Talarico if there were enough Democrats who understood what a "horrible" mistake it was.
"When you look at the 2024 election results, and you see all of those counties along the border all going red, or almost all of them going red, do you think Democrats nationwide understand what you understand, that open borders is — is no solution? In fact, it is a disaster, not only politically, but a disaster for the communities, Hispanic communities along that border," the host said.
Talarico said border towns in Texas meant a lot to him and to his family, and that Democrats took advantage of them.
"National Democrats took the border for granted. We stopped showing up there. And that’s why people along the southern border — it’s why people in south Texas started looking for alternatives. Republicans came to town and made big promises about, you know, common sense immigration approach, lowering people’s costs. But just a year into this administration, those promises haven’t been kept," Talarico said.
GOP ZEROES IN ON SOUTH TEXAS DEM WHO URGED TRUMP TO 'ALLOW PEOPLE TO CROSS FREELY'
Talarico was critical of the Trump administration's policy, and described it as "extremism."
"We’ve seen this crazy, useless border wall through Big Bend being proposed when you already have a wall made by God with cliffs and mountain ranges much better than anything humans could build," he said.
"And then you’ve also seen costs skyrocketing for people along the border," Talarico continued. "You’ve seen these tariffs start to hurt small businesses in the region. So folks are feeling really disillusioned. They feel like they’ve been let down by both political parties. And it’s why we’re showing up."
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
Talarico defeated Texas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the primary for the Senate seat earlier this year.
Crockett said during a recent appearance at the Essence Festival that she didn't need to campaign alongside Talarico, arguing the best thing she could do is boost down-ballot candidates.
She also claimed the primary race was "racist."
"You see, a lot of haters got a lot of things to say about me and my race and how I ran it," Crockett said. "But the reality is that there was a lot of racist — not a lot, it was racist. It was a racist race. It is what it is, right?"
"But we live in America as y'all are celebrating 250," she continued. "OK? We know what this country is. But let me tell you the facts. There is no race that turned out more people to vote ever in the state of Texas except for Barack [Obama] and Hillary [Clinton]."
