One late afternoon in mid-May, a half dozen Hispanic day laborers were paid $20 each to parade in front of the White House on camera, holding signs with slogans like “I Love Biden” and “I Need Work Permit for My Family.”
The stunt was orchestrated by Nick Shirley, a pro-Trump online influencer who often asks migrants on camera if they support Democratic President Joe Biden or think he made it easier for them to come to the U.S.
“We want to take you to the White House,” Shirley told the men he recruited at a Home Depot parking lot, where day laborers typically wait for jobs, in a video later posted to YouTube. “What (Biden) did for migrants is very kind, right? Letting everyone come in? So we are going to show him and say thank you.”
Shirley, a 22-year-old with more than 318,000 followers on social media, is among a new class of influencers supportive of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who are helping shape the immigration debate as the U.S. election campaign heats up.
Their self-shot dispatches from American cities and the southern border with Mexico portray migrants in the country illegally as dangerous and burdensome, and part of a plan to grow the ranks of Democratic voters.
Trump, at the very least, told leaders to quash the bill so Biden did not get a win. The bill was basically everything Republicans were asking for.
Not that I think it was a good bill nor do I agree with Biden’s EO on immigration. But it’s kind of hard for Republicans to complain when they reject implementing what they want.
I agree with you in principle, but clearly it’s not that hard since they are actively complaining and polls show voters trust Trump and Republicans over Biden to handle immigration. Somehow, they’re never really constrained by reality.
That sounds like a failure of Democratic messaging which is unfortunately not uncommon. Every Democrat should be pointing out that Republicans killed an immigration bill that implemented what they wanted all because Trump asked them to. Immigration is one of the top issues for most voters (no idea why). I really wish Democrats didn’t suck so bad at marketing.
One other thing I often see that Democrats suck at talking about is inflation. Most of it has been from price gouging and Biden floated the idea of a windfall tax which was completely rejected by Republicans. Now companies are lowering their prices because people are not as willing to accept the supply chain and wage increase bullshit.
Racism. That’s why, no mystery here. No one is whining about whites coming over.
It’s exacerbated by the right-wing having a propaganda machine too. Democrats can communicate their wins (ineffectively as they do) but they don’t make headlines like the outrage bait Fox airs. Bullshit asymmetry principle and all that.
Polls. The Facepals/Instatag of the 1950’s.