The Biden border crisis is quickly becoming a political crisis for Texas Democrats. Case in point: Democratic gubernatorial candidate and uber-liberal Beto O'Rourke is now criticizing the Biden Administration for ending the Title 42 public health deportation rules. O'Rourke recently told reporters, "it does not make sense to end this until there is a real plan and the capacity in place to address those that come over," adding, "I have yet to hear a plan from the Biden administration to address the dynamic we will have on the border once Title 42 ends."
Those are fairly strong words from O'Rourke, considering he has been among those vocally calling for the end of Title 42 for months. Texas Republicans see this as just another Beto flip-flop. "I don't believe him on the border, because he did the same thing with guns," says Steve Munisteri, former Texas GOP chair. "He came out when he was running for president and made it very clear that he was for gun control, then when running for governor of Texas he backtracked."
Munisteri believes this about-face from O'Rourke is less about a change of heart and more about the steady erosion of Democrat support among Texas Latinos. "We (Republicans) are doing so much better among the Hispanic community," he tells KTRH. "In the last election, we won one of the border counties, and we also elected the first Hispanic Republican to the state senate in a Democratic district."
"Hispanic Americans just like every other American are concerned about the border and illegal immigration," he continues.
With Texas Democrats scrambling to shore up Hispanic support and President Biden's approval ratings tanking, Dem candidates like O'Rourke have no choice but to distance themselves from Biden. "I think it's now dawning on the Democrats that they're not going to have a very good year in the midterms," says Munisteri. "They know the border is a real issue, and the problems at the border are caused by the national Democratic Party."
Photo: AFP