“Sad she’s dead, but”...
Washington Examiner, “Elizabeth Warren on the Tibbetts murder: Sad she’s dead, but ‘we have to remember’ we need an immigration system that ‘focuses on where real problems are”, 22 Aug 2018:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is sorry that a 20-year-old Iowa student is dead and that a reported illegal alien has been charged in the killing, but the Massachusetts Democrat wants to stay focused on the “real problems.”
This isn’t a paraphrase of something she said Wednesday on CNN. This is her actual response to a question about reports that law enforcement agents have charged Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, in the disappearance and murder of Mollie Tibbetts.
“I’m so sorry for the family here, and I know this is hard, not only for the family, but for the people in her community, the people throughout Iowa,” Warren told CNN’s John Berman. “But one of the things we have to remember is: We need an immigration system that is effective. That focuses on where real problems are.”
Berman asking the senator specifically to respond to President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence claiming the Tibbetts murder is proof of the need for stronger immigration enforcement.
Warren continued, saying, “Uh, last month, I went down to the border, and I saw where children had been taken away from their mothers. I met with those mothers, who had been lied to, who didn’t know where their children were, who hadn’t had a chance to talk to their children. And there was no plan for how they’d be reunified with their children.”
Tibbetts’ remains were found early Tuesday morning, according to law enforcement officials. Rivera, who authorities believe has been living in the U.S. illegally for four to seven years, has been charged with first-degree murder. His bail was set Tuesday at $1 million.
“I think we need immigration laws that focus on people who pose a real threat, and I don’t think mammas and babies are the place where we should be spending our resources. Separating a mamma from a baby does not make this country safe,” Warren said.
Trump signed an executive order on June 20 reversing the policy of separating illegal immigrant families. And as to the issue of mothers being separated from their babies, I think Tibbetts’ mother, Laura Calderwood, might have some thoughts on that.
The Washington Examiner’s Phil Klein disagreed Wednesday with the criticisms of Warren, arguing the Massachusetts senator had not really stepped in it with “outrageously tone-deaf” comment.
“I’m no Warren fan, but this strikes me as a stretch. In clip she goes on to say we need to focus on actual threats, and that family separation doesn’t make us safe,” he wrote. “She isn’t saying that a young girl getting killed isn’t a problem.”
I disagree that the negative reaction is a stretch. The criticisms are well-deserved. Her comments follow a clear path. She starts by saying she’s sorry about the Tibbetts murder, and then changes the subject to attack Trump over an immigration policy he rescinded two months ago.
It’s true Warren’s remarks were about the White House’s response to the murder. That doesn’t take away from the “but” in her “I’m sorry someone is dead” response. There should never be a “but” in those statements.
Opinion commentary, by Beckett Adams
