U.S. Customs and Border Protection mounted officers attempt to contain migrants as they cross the Rio Grande on Sunday. Photo: Felix Marquez/AP
Citing moves on Afghanistan and the border, two N.Y. Times items compare President Biden to the predecessor he defeated:
A news story — "Biden Pushes Deterrent Border Policy After Promising 'Humane' Approach" — notes this week's images of the border roundup "could have come straight from former President Donald J. Trump’s immigration playbook."
- "[T]he deportations are a stark example of how Mr. Biden ... is deploying some of the most aggressive approaches to immigration put in place by Mr. Trump over the past four years."
- Marisa Franco — executive director of Mijente, a Latino civil rights organization, who consulted the Biden campaign as a Bernie Sanders representative — is quoted as saying: "The question that’s being asked now is: How are you actually different than Trump?"
Frank Bruni column, "The UnTrump Presidency Slams Into Trumpness":
- "[H]e pulled out of Afghanistan without the degree of consultation, coordination and competence that allies expected, at least of any American president not named Trump."
- "And Biden’s return of hundreds of desperate Haitian migrants to Haiti ... also seems Trumpy to many observers."
Bruni's bottom line: "Biden is a far cry from Trump. Hallelujah. But that doesn’t mean that he’s untouched by Trump."