On March 24, 2021, Axios reported, “Biden puts Harris in charge of the border crisis.” The same day, The New York Times stated that Biden “gave the vice president a prominent role in the politically charged issue.” Numerous other legacy media outlets called Kamala Harris the “border czar” and heralded her prominent role.
At the time of the appointment, Joe Biden himself said, “So it’s not her full responsibility and job, but she’s leading the effort,” and “When she speaks, she speaks for me. Doesn’t have to check with me. She knows what she’s doing.”
But corporate media have engaged in a complete about-face this past week, now decrying the use of the term “border czar” and minimizing Harris’ role in the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the border. USA Today stated that “Harris was never put in charge of the border or made ‘border czar,’ immigration experts said.” Time declared, “Kamala Harris Was Never Biden’s ‘Border Czar.’ Here’s What She Really Did.” As my colleague Jordan Boyd detailed, Axios even reneged on its own 2021 coverage of Harris as border czar in the rush to exonerate Harris of culpability in the illegal immigration crisis.
The media’s about-face comes not as a result of a change in facts (in which case a reversal would not only be justified but necessary) but because of a change in circumstances. When Biden dropped out of the race, it became politically inconvenient for Harris to be associated with the immigration policy failures of the administration
