Biden administration's messaging on the border has been 'really bad': CNN panelist

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CNN panelist says Biden administration's messaging on the border has been 'really bad'

CNN panelist and Punchbowl News co-founder John Bresnahan said Sunday during "Inside Politics" that the Biden administration has been "really bad" about messaging on the border. 

A CNN "Inside Politics" panel was critical of President Biden on Sunday as panelists argued he hasn't taken immigration "seriously" and that his messaging on the border has been "really bad."

"Democrats are deeply disappointed in what this administration has and hasn’t done," Jeff Zeleny, CNN's Chief National Affairs correspondent, said. "He’s not taken this as seriously. You can hear by his rhetoric there. That of course is why he’s going." 

"So yes, it’s a photo op, but anytime a president invests time in going to a place, it is showing that they’re taking it seriously, at least politically," he continued. "So we’ll see what comes of this. But that is his issue with Senate Democrats. It’s a huge challenge for him."

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Zeleny added that it is not certain whether Biden is aware of the politics on immigration within his own party. The panel discussed Biden's border visit, as he is expected to spend a few hours in El Paso, Texas, on Sunday. 

Host Abby Phillip said she doesn't like to describe the president's trip to El Paso as a photo op because of what is going on in border cities. 

John Bresnahan joins CNN's "Inside Politics" to discuss President Biden's border visit.  (Screenshot/CNN/InsidePolitics)

"There’s a real situation happening at the border that as president sometimes you do have to see it to understand it," she said. 

Punchbowl News co-Founder John Bresnahan said the president's messaging on the border has been "really bad."

"Their messaging throughout their administration as Jeff said, has been really bad. They don’t really have a cohesive policy, at least they haven’t presented one," he said. 

CNN's Kasie Hunt noted that Democrats now "own the problem."

CNN's Brian Stelter asked Biden adviser Gene Sperling if part of the problem with economic coverage in the media was that administration officials and TV anchors don't feel the pain like the average American.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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"It was easy relatively for Democrats to point to the inhumanity of many of the Trump policies when Trump was in charge and Republicans controlled some segments of the government," she said. "Now Democrats are in charge, which means that they own the problem. When we have Democratic governors like Jared Polis of Colorado raising flags, and saying, ‘Hey, this is a problem.’"

"The administration is now – they’re the ones who have to answer for that. So yes, they’re going to get some pressure I think from their left on what obviously they’re saying is the inhumanity of these policies. But the bottom political line is that they’re going to have to own it, if it’s an expansive problem, it’s a political problem in 2024," she continued.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blamed the Trump administration for the crisis at the southern border during a press conference on Friday. 

President Joe Biden's Wednesday visit to Kentucky's Brent Spence Bridge was used to highlight his administration's infrastructure agenda. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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"The president inherited a mess because of what the last administration did. We inherited a mess. And, you know, Republicans in Congress made it worse by blocking comprehensive immigration reform," Jean-Pierre said. "And so what you're seeing from this president is he's acting. He's acting to protect, to continue to protect the border, secure the border, and also deal with irregular migration."