Part 2: Why false claims like "border czar" stick

VP Kamala Harris was never a "border czar" - but this nonsense spread because mainstream media repeated a false Republican talking point for years.

Yesterday, I wrote that:

VP Kamala Harris was NOT a "border czar"

I’d like to stay on this subject for another day to also briefly comment on why such false claims continue to percolate. [For reference, here’s the original fact sheet from the White House in 2021, explaining that VP Harris was going to focus on diplomatic efforts in some Central American countries, also confirmed here.]

The falsehood about Harris spread by Republicans is about to take on an additional dimension according to this latest bit of news (via AR-M):

House Republicans tee up vote condemning Harris as ‘border czar’

As Border Report points out:

The resolution, led by House GOP conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), references Harris’s role as “border czar,” though that was not an official title that Biden gave Harris, nor was she asked to oversee the entirety of policies on the U.S.-Mexico border. Biden did ask Harris to head up a diplomatic campaign to address the root causes of migration from countries in Central America.

Immigration lawyer and expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, again, pointedly commented that:

Not only was VP Harris not "border czar," a nonexistent position, but she wasn't actually asked to oversee ANY policies on the U.S.-Mexico border, let alone "the entirety." Genuinely, the ONLY thing he assigned her to do was the diplomatic campaign.

He discussed this in other posts to rebut other related claims, for example:

The idea that "not once" did the White House push back against the border czar line is simply false.

Since the beginning, the White House pushed back against the claim. Harris repeatedly rejected the characterization. Mayorkas corrected Senators who said it in hearings.

Proof [images]

The perpetuation of this falsehood by the Republican party has one purpose and one purpose only: it is to falsely accuse VP Harris of being incompetent when it comes to what was happening at the US/Mexico border.

There are some who accuse supporters of VP Harris of trying to change reality, but again, Aaron Reichlin-Melnick has receipts from 2021:

Some of us have been yelling about this from the very beginning.

But I would argue that the worst look here isn't those who got it wrong on March 24, 2021, it's those who got it wrong over and over in the years afterwards, despite repeated denials by the White House and DHS.

A natural question - how did this false claim about VP Harris continue to perpetuate over years? In almost all cases, the answer is the media - specifically, media outlets that uncritically repeat Republican talking points without fact checking.

Let’s use a striking example from yesterday to get a glimpse into how GOP propaganda or falsehoods make their way to voters.

Stef Kight at Axios published an article which was summarized on Twitter by Axios as:

The Trump campaign and Republicans have tagged Harris repeatedly with the "border czar" title — which she never actually had.

Soon after that tweet, Andy Kaczynski at CNN remarked:

Incredible community note on here [which points out that] Axios use[d] the term “border czar” repeatedly previously for Harris.

In one of those rare corrections in the media, today Axios posted an update acknowledging they were part of the reason why the term “border czar” as falsely linked to VP Harris since 2021, as summarized by Yashar Ali:

Axios has now updated its story to note that it too referred to Harris as “border czar” in 2021.

“This article has been updated and clarified to note that Axios was among the news outlets that incorrectly labeled Harris a ‘border czar’ back in 2021.”

This is a lesson for Democratic supporters, among numerous other examples like it - always be skeptical of critiques or claims in the mainstream media about prominent Democrats. Claims that might seem superficially true are often GOP lies passed on uncritically as fact.

[Image via OpenClipart-Vectors]