Kamala Harris is still not ready for primetime (much less 2024)

Vice President Kamala Harris was asked a very easy, very basic question recently by NBC’s Lester Holt about when she – as leader of the Biden administration’s effort to fix the crisis at the U.S. southern border – would visit said border. 

“Do you have any plans to visit the border?” asked Holt.

“At some point. You know… we are going to the border,” Harris responded.  “We’ve been to the border. This whole thing about the border, we’ve been to the border. We’ve been to the border.”

“You haven’t been to the border,” Holt corrected.

“And I haven’t been to Europe,” Harris replied with an awkward laugh. “I don’t understand the point you’re making.”

The clip went viral from there, with many mocking or simply being dumbfounded by her answer.

Administration officials perplexed by Harris’ border answer and worry it will overshadow her trip via @CNN https://t.co/7GD152SIUD

— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) June 9, 2021

Border Crisis Solved: Immigrants Flee In Terror After Hearing Kamala Harris Cackle https://t.co/bAdYKTrFFK

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) June 12, 2021

CNN story quoting WH sources panning Kamala’s trip/border answer has four bylines. Chatty sources wanted this out there. pic.twitter.com/OmNQkoGMO1

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) June 9, 2021

Madam ⁦@VP⁩, I’ve been to Europe and the Border. Why haven’t you? ⁦@cnnbrk⁩ ⁦@MSNBC⁩ ⁦@NBCNews⁩ ⁦@LesterHoltNBC⁩ https://t.co/SmjxxS0gFA

— Vernon Jones For Governor (@RepVernonJones) June 12, 2021

Okay, so perhaps it was just one bad moment for the vice president. Fortunately (or unfortunately), Harris was given a second chance a few days later on Univision.

And she somehow provided an even worse response.

“I’ve said I’m going to the border,” Harris told anchor Ilia Calderón on Friday. “The administration has asked…”

“When are you going to the border,” Calderon, who was on a slight delay, pressed.”

“I’m not finished,” Harris shot back while again briefly chuckling. “I’ve said I’m going to the border. And also if we are going to deal with the problems at the border, we have to deal with the problems that cause people to go to the border, to flee to the border. So, my first trip as vice president of the United States was to go, in terms of a foreign trip, to Guatemala, to be on the ground there to address and to be informed of the root causes why are the people of Guatemala leaving.”

“Do you have a date for your trip to the border?” Calderón followed.

“I will keep you posted,” Harris replied. 

The root causes answer Harris continually falls back on is clearly a crutch intended to buy indefinite time, especially when considering that she cites climate change as one of those root causes. Solve droughts in Central America, that solves the problem. 

On that front, the Biden administration has pledged almost $4 billion in its budget to combat the “root causes” of migration, while Harris stated “the U.S. would invest $40 million in a program for young, primarily Indigenous women in Guatemala through USAID,” according to NBC News, “Which in turn would allocate an additional $48 million for affordable housing and agribusiness in the country.”

Yep. That should really turn the tide of a record number of migrants crossing the border, which was driven in part by Harris’s and President Biden’s rhetoric during the campaign. 

“I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come, do not come,” Harris said last week during a press conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei.

Related question: Has Vice President Kamala Harris met Sen. Kamala Harris?

Shot: https://t.co/3wF1lykVEH

— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) June 8, 2021

Chaser:https://t.co/qVa81s6xQP

— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) June 8, 2021

The result of the “do not come” message, which seems to come not from the VP’s moral compass but more likely from horrific internal polling, has only made matters worse as Harris has been taking incoming from the center, left and right. The left hates it because it defies the open borders policy Harris advocated as a senator. The right laughs at it because empty words don’t replace the Biden administration’s non-action on the crisis. 

Kamala Harris received criticism from fellow Democrats and human rights groups after she told potential migrants “do not come” during her first international trip since taking office.

Compare perspective and analysis by @NRO, @latimes and @thehill https://t.co/CkZ0TTfv0B pic.twitter.com/g5pCkShURM

— AllSides (@AllSidesNow) June 10, 2021

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said its agents stopped 180,034 people at the border in May.

That was the fourth consecutive monthly rise and represented a 674 percent increase over the 23,237 stopped in May 2020, which was COVID-impacted. For more accurate context, in May 2018 that number was just 51,862 encounters, or more than 128,000 fewer people. 

While all of this is happening, record amounts of fentanyl continues to pour into the country. This is an issue Harris addressed as a presidential candidate. As an actual VP, not so much given how little she’s spoken about it when talking about the border. 

These numbers are frightening. Fentanyl-involved overdose deaths among African Americans have increased 141% a year since 2011, more than any other reported group. We must do more to address the core issues of addiction & expand access to treatment. https://t.co/iHFQ4RluMA

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) March 22, 2019

Kamala Harris was once seen as a top contender for the White House. She didn’t even make it to Iowa when the first primary votes were cast. Then she suddenly was seen as the torch-bearer for President Biden, who may not want to run for reelection in 2024; he’ll be in his 80s. 

After her horrific interview performances this week – coupled by her overall poor performance in addressing the border crisis – a President Harris is looking like it will never happen; that’s if she’s judged by her handling of the biggest task assigned to her thus far as vice president. 

Joe Concha is a media and politics columnist for The Hill and a Fox News contributor.