Border patrol union chief urges GOP to abandon 'stolen election' rhetoric to focus on border

The union chief for border patrol agents has a pointed message for Republicans trying to sort out their latest ballot disappointment: Drop the stolen election rhetoric in favor of a sharper focus on the lethally insecure southern border.  

"Nothing is more important than democracy," National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told the John Solomon Reports podcast. "That's what the Democrats used to beat the Republicans up. And it was all based upon this election denial, that the election was stolen.

"Independents do not believe that the election was stolen, but they do believe in democracy, and the Democrats were able to use that very, very effectively." 

Judd said that Republicans should have stuck to issues the voters were concerned about, which included the economy, crime, border security, energy independence and foreign policy. 

"If the Republicans would have just stuck to those five topics, it would have resonated, and there would have been that huge red wave," Judd asserted. "Instead, you had people like Kari Lake that constantly talked about the election, over and over and over again, and that drove so many independents and even some Republicans to vote Democrat because they believe more than anything in democracy."

The crisis at the southern border was a major issue that the GOP ran on due to the massive waves of illegal immigration, resulting in drug trafficking of fentanyl and crime waves. 2.4 million illegal immigrants reportedly attempted to cross into the United States over the prior fiscal year, according to a CBP report last month.

"We're going to continue to see the border be completely out of control, because that's what the leftist base wants," Judd said. "They want an out of control border. They want unregulated immigration. They don't care if harm is being done to the American people."

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made headlines on Tuesday after he declared Texas was under invasion due to the border crisis and invoked special powers granted under the U.S. and Texas constitutions. According to the GOP governor, this declaration allows him to send the National Guard to the border and treat cartels like terrorist organizations, as well as continue to build the border wall without help from the federal government. 

While Judd says he is grateful that Abbott is doing something, he says he doesn't believe that Abbott has the authority to fix this issue. 

"It is very nice to see somebody like Governor Abbott step up to the plate to do something that this administration is not doing," Judd said. "The problem with that is he does not have the authority to fix this problem. If he doesn't have the authority to fix the problem, the problem is going to continue.

"He is showing the evidence of what is currently taking place on the border. And when people can actually see the evidence rather than rhetoric, they're more likely to step up and voice their concerns and let their elected officials know that they want change at the border. That's what he's doing. He's not giving us rhetoric. He's giving us the evidence."