'Where's Kamala?': Nikki Haley Mocks VP's Lack of Border Visit With 'Where's Waldo' Picture
Former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley shared a "Where's Kamala" meme Monday that ridicules the vice president for visiting several liberal-leaning cities while avoiding the U.S. southern border.
The ex-GOP governor joined the growing list of Republicans who are mocking the White House's seemingly contradictory claims about Vice President Kamala Harris' role as "border czar."
Noting that Harris has visited Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago and New Haven, Connecticut, in recent weeks, GOP lawmakers are increasing their demands for transparency over the border crisis. Haley's red-and-white-striped meme makes light of the "Where's Waldo" children's books series in which readers were tasked with finding the perpetually lost loiterer amid chaotic drawings.
"Where's Kamala? Everywhere But the Border," reads the Monday tweet by Haley, whom many Republican strategists say is angling for a 2024 White House run.
"(Hint: [She's] still not at the border)," Haley's post continues, showing a map of the border alongside Harris wearing Waldo's famed red-and-white cap.
Harris' chief spokesperson, Symone Sanders, responded to repeated questions from reporters about Harris' whereabouts last week by saying "the vice president is not doing the border." Sanders and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Harris is working to solve the root of the immigration problem with Central American and Mexican leaders, rather than focusing on the border itself.
"It's diplomatic work that needs to be done," Harris' top aide added.
But that hasn't stopped Republicans from honing in their own criticism over Harris' seemingly confusing role in curbing the immigration crisis. Many Washington lawmakers noted that neither Harris nor President Joe Biden have visited the border, a claim that the White House has rebuked by highlighting the successful passage of massive pandemic relief legislation and other achievements higher up on their list.
"I don't know if she quit or she was fired but she didn't do anything. Neither one of them [Biden and Harris] has been to the border since they were elected," Texas GOP Senator Ted Cruz tweeted last week.
"Why won't President Biden or Vice President Harris visit the southern border? Because they don't want you to see how bad it really is," tweeted Ohio Republican Representative Jim Jordan on Monday.
"This is Kamala Harris' 12th day as Biden's crisis manager for the border, and she STILL hasn't visited the border," remarked Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on April 5.
Frequent Fox News guest and former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich told the cable news network Monday that Harris was deliberately put in charge of the border because "they knew she wouldn't do anything" about the immigration crisis.
Newsweek reached out to Harris and Haley's offices for additional remarks Monday afternoon.
