In a sharp rebuke during a Republican press event, a senior GOP senator accused President Joe Biden of being untrustworthy, citing Biden's repeated telling of a questionable story about his uncle being eaten by cannibals during WWII. The criticism was aimed at Biden's new asylum executive order and his broader immigration policies.
The Daily Mail reported that President Biden has often recounted a tale about his uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, who he claims was eaten by cannibals after his plane was shot down over Papua New Guinea during WWII.
This story, however, has been disputed by a Pentagon report, which states that the plane ditched in the ocean after engine failure.
During the GOP press event, Senator Joni Ernst was caught on a hot mic mocking Biden's story. "Bottom line, never trust a man whose uncle was eaten by cannibals," she quipped. This comment set the tone for the Republicans' critique of Biden’s immigration policies.
The GOP press event was convened to voice opposition to Biden’s new asylum executive order and his overall immigration plan. Various senators, including Ernst, Marshall, Ricketts, Cruz, and Blackburn, voiced their concerns.
The Pentagon report from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency detailed that the plane carrying Ambrose Finnegan had three crew members and one passenger. It departed Momote Airfield on May 14, 1944, and crashed into the ocean. Only one crew member survived, and an aerial search found no trace of the missing aircraft or the lost men.
Biden has recounted this story, saying, "He [Ambrose Finnegan] got shot down in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be — there were a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of New Guinea." This statement has been met with skepticism and has now become a point of contention among his political opponents.
Senator Ernst emphasized that Biden’s immigration actions have exacerbated the border crisis. "On day one of his presidency, Joe Biden rolled into the White House. He got into the Oval, and he dismantled everything that President Trump had in place that kept a lid on these illegal border crossings," she said.
She continued, "So now here we are years later, and it has taken 10 million illegal border crossings for President Biden to step up and acknowledge that there is a crisis at the border, and you know what, folks? It's his own making."
Senator Roger Marshall echoed these sentiments, stating, "Our borders have been left vulnerable and the safety of our citizens compromised. And here we stand just five months before this critical election with Joe Biden and the Democrats grasping for a political lifeline."
Marshall further criticized Biden, claiming that his decisions are enabling criminal activities. "Joe Biden's decisions are basically rubber stamping the presence of cartel and criminal enterprises at our borders and really throughout the entire nation. Now, this is not a policy, this is a betrayal of the American people by the White House," he asserted.
Senator Pete Ricketts also weighed in, stating that Biden is maintaining a catastrophe rather than addressing the crisis. "Since he's been in office, he has allowed all the Trump era policies that worked so successfully to either go away, not enforced, or he's repealed them. In his first 100 days of office, he issued 94 executive orders," Ricketts said.
Ricketts added, "President Trump built 500 miles of wall. President Biden stopped that with his executive orders. This President is not serious. He has opened our southern border, and now because it's election year, he's trying to show the American people that he's taking steps, but we're not going to believe it."
Senator Ted Cruz joined the chorus of criticism, accusing Biden and Democrat lawmakers of presiding over "a criminal invasion of the United States" by allowing over 10 million migrants to enter the U.S. since the president took office. Cruz alleged that Biden "deliberately broke the system" and now in an election year, the president is trying to fix it.
Senator Marsha Blackburn highlighted the human and sex trafficking issues exacerbated by current immigration policies. "Human trafficking, the sex trafficking, the numbers are adding up and here you go with an election year political gimmick to try to push this issue aside so that [Biden] can go to a debate and say, 'Well, I did something,'" Blackburn said.
The GOP senators collectively condemned Biden’s immigration policies, accusing him of dismantling effective Trump-era policies and engaging in election-year political maneuvering.
In conclusion, the press event underscored the deep divisions between Republicans and Democrats on immigration policy. The GOP senators' criticisms focused on Biden's perceived failures and political strategies, reflecting broader concerns about the current administration's handling of border security and immigration issues.
