Biden’s former press secretary Jen Psaki reveals enormous ‘political vulnerability’ of the president: ‘They knew they would have to do something’

Joe Biden has been forced to act on migrant border crossings only because it now threatens to cost him the November election, his former press secretary admitted.

On Tuesday, the president announced the first executive action aimed at reducing voter turnout since he took office, after a Gallup poll found that immigration topped voters’ concerns for the third straight month.

Donald Trump had a 17-point lead over his rival on the issue in a separate poll last month after promising mass deportation of illegal crossers if he returns to office next year.

“Politically, this is one of the biggest vulnerabilities,” Jen Psaki told MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Wednesday.

‘They knew that politically they would also have to do something like an executive order before the elections. And that’s what we’re seeing.”

Biden’s action falls short of an executive order, but he promises to temporarily suspend the entry of noncitizens across the southern border once the average number of detected crossings exceeds 2,500 per day over a seven-day period.

That suspension will not be lifted until the number drops below an average of 1,500 per day for 21 days.

The move has drawn fury from progressive Democrats, with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash) calling it a “mistake” and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) calling it a “betrayal.”

But Psaki, now an MSNBC host, said it was inevitable after attempts to push a border control bill through Congress failed in the face of opposition from Trump.

“It was such a conservative deal, and the Democrats gave so much, that the Republicans were like ‘wow, I can’t believe we got all this stuff done.'”

“They knew that as soon as the deal fell apart, Donald Trump called Mike Johnson and said, ‘kill the deal,’ and Mike Johnson said, ‘Yes, sir, I’ll kill the deal.'”

“At that moment they knew they had to do something.”

Last year, 2.5 million illegal crossings were detected on the southern border, with a record of 302,000 in December.

Numbers have fallen since then, but crossings routinely exceed the level necessary to trigger repression; border authorities recorded 3,500 on Monday.

Biden took 94 executive actions to reverse his predecessor’s border policies after taking office, but he has repeatedly warned that any use of his authority to reduce crossings risks being overturned by the courts.

Anger on the left has been compounded by his decision to use for his executive action the same section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act that Donald Trump used to block refugees from Muslim-majority countries.

The American Civil Liberties Union had already promised a legal challenge, alleging that the measure would illegally deprive immigrants of the right to seek asylum.

“All of these attempts by the previous administration were ruled illegal by federal courts,” a Human Rights First spokesperson said.

A study by Pew Research in February found a stark divide between Republican and Democratic supporters over whether the border crossing issue could be called a “crisis,” with 70 percent of Republican voters agreeing compared to just 22 percent of Democrats.

But a Reuters/Ipsos poll last month suggested that 56 percent of all voters want the government to detain and deport most or all immigrants who are in the United States illegally.

It found that 70 percent of Republicans described the challenges at the southern border as a “crisis,” compared to just 22 percent of Democrats.

“Regardless of who is angry about the details of what is here and what is not, it is a political vulnerability for the president and his campaign,” Psaki said.