{"id":229456,"date":"2026-11-01T19:24:07","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T19:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/2026-democratic-candidates-throw-joe-biden-under-the-bus-on-the-border-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T19:24:07","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T19:24:07","slug":"2026-democratic-candidates-throw-joe-biden-under-the-bus-on-the-border-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/2026-democratic-candidates-throw-joe-biden-under-the-bus-on-the-border-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Democratic candidates throw Joe Biden under the bus on the border – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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WASHINGTON \u2014 Democratic candidates in 2026 battleground races<\/a> are directly criticizing Joe Biden\u2019s handling of border security when he was president, seeking to neutralize a political vulnerability and signaling a new path for the party on the thorny issue.
Candidates are throwing the ex-president under the bus on border policy in key states that will decide control of the Senate and some battleground House races across the country.
\u201cI called out Joe Biden for failing us on the border,\u201d Texas\u2019 Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico says in a recent ad<\/a> airing in the closing stretch of his neck-and-neck race against Republican Ken Paxton. He also criticized Biden<\/a> in July for having \u201cfailed us on our southern border\u201d as he rolled out his own border security plan<\/a>.
He\u2019s not alone.
In Kansas, a longtime Republican stronghold, Democrat Adam Hamilton criticized Biden in a recent debate with Republican Sen. Roger Marshall.
\u201cI want to be crystal clear, first of all: Immigration at the border under Biden was a disaster. That is how we ended up where we are today,\u201d he said. \u201cSecond, what we did in response to that has been a disaster for people across the state of Kansas.\u201d
Hamilton, like other Democrats in areas that voted for Trump in 2024, paired their critique of Biden with criticism that the current president has gone too far on enforcement. Polls show many Americans have soured on Trump\u2019s handling of the issue in the wake of immigration officers fatally shooting two Americans in Minnesota<\/a> and one in Maine<\/a> this year.
Still, the comments reflect a recognition that the issue of border security remains a vulnerability for Democrats as Republicans continue to accuse them of promoting \u201copen borders\u201d in a bid to mobilize their base and win swing voters. Biden\u2019s ratings on the issue tanked amid a surge<\/a> in migrant crossings during his presidency, which Trump successfully weaponized in 2024.
Entering office in 2021, Biden inherited a Covid-era migration surge that intensified in the United States after he made good on his pledge to roll back Trump-era policies and restrictions, allowing more asylum-seekers to stay in the country as their cases were being considered. The collective result was a huge spike in border crossings that became associated with the Biden presidency and brought down his approval ratings.
Even as Trump\u2019s approval rating has fallen to 38%<\/a>, polls show border security continues to be<\/a> one of his highest-polling issues, although that number has fallen from the highs of his early second term.
\u201cThe Biden administration failed at the border,\u201d Democratic House candidate Paige Cognetti said at a debate<\/a> Thursday night.
Cognetti, who is vying to unseat Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., in a highly competitive Scranton-area working-class district, later added: \u201cThe Biden administration did fail. We need to make sure that the border is secure. It\u2019s a good thing that it is. We do need to make sure that the pathways to citizenship are there.\u201d
In South Carolina, Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews said in a debate, \u201cDemocrats have failed on the border.\u201d
Democratic pollster Celinda Lake said it\u2019s \u201cvery smart\u201d for candidates to distance themselves from Biden and that \u201cthere\u2019s nobody contesting that interpretation\u201d that he blundered on the border.
In the 2024 election, \u201cimmigration was playing a major, major role, and it was energizing Republicans. And it was the best issue among swing voters for Republicans,\u201d she said. \u201cICE has gone too far, and that has backfired now.\u201d
She added that the \u201cbest messaging\u201d on immigration is \u201csome control for the border plus a humanitarian process for immigration.\u201d
Iowa\u2019s Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek traveled more than 800 miles to Laredo, Texas, to film an ad at the border touting his support for tougher enforcement.
\u201cI came to the border to meet firsthand with the people who work to keep it secure. What happens down here affects us up in Iowa, so we\u2019ve got to address it,\u201d Turek says in the ad<\/a>. \u201cI voted with Republicans to allow law enforcement to arrest and deport criminals.\u201d
Weeks earlier, he released another ad speaking to Iowans and vowing that he would \u201cwork with anyone\u201d to fix immigration \u2014 \u201cincluding President Trump, to secure the border.\u201d
Closer to the border, Democrat Johnny Garcia is trying to win Texas\u2019 redrawn and Republican-friendly 35th Congressional District against GOP nominee Carlos De La Cruz.
Garcia criticized Trump\u2019s ICE raids as detrimental to the economy. But at a recent forum<\/a>, he also blamed Biden\u2019s policies for failures at the border and referred to a fatal smuggling conspiracy in 2022<\/a> that led to the deaths of dozens of people.
\u201cWe\u2019ve also gotten to see, unfortunately, how Biden got it wrong on the border,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cI\u2019ll admit that every single day. We got to see one of the largest migrant fatalities in this district in south San Antonio, with 53 migrants that were locked in a trailer.\u201d
\u201cSo we can\u2019t afford to just turn a blind eye to our border,\u201d he added. \u201cBut at the same time, we can\u2019t turn a blind eye to what we\u2019re seeing happening on our streets.\u201d
Sahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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