Major media outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, and The New York Times, are now rejecting the "border czar" label they once used to describe Kamala Harris' role in addressing immigration, despite past reporting that used the same language. This sudden shift comes as Harris becomes the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, raising questions about whether her campaign pressured the media to abandon the label.
Major liberal media outlets are largely remaining mum over the unified stance they have embraced in rejecting the unofficial "border czar" label of Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris was widely dubbed the "border czar" after President Biden tasked her in March 2021 to address the root causes of mass migration from Central and South America.
While the Biden administration has rejected the title, the term was widely used by her critics and even embraced by multiple news organizations, at least until she ascended to the top of the ticket as the Democratic presidential nominee after Biden announced his exit from the race.
Liberal Media Abandons "Border Czar" Label for Kamala Harris as Democrats Anoint Her Presidential Nominee
Fox News Digital asked several news organizations, including CNN, MSNBC, CBS, The New York Times, and Axios, about their vocal rejection of the "border czar" label in recent days, pressing why all of a sudden they were doing so and whether the Harris campaign pressured them into resisting the label. Most did not respond.
PolitiFact gave the claim by Republicans that Harris as border czar was "put in charge of stopping illegal immigration" a "Mostly False" rating. Katie Sanders, the editor-in-chief of PolitiFact, told Fox News Digital "we were under no pressure to write this article from the Harris campaign, nor from the White House, nor from anyone else."
Liberal Media Abandons "Border Czar" Label for Kamala Harris as Democrats Anoint Her Presidential Nominee
"This is one of many talking points circulating since her recent candidacy, and we heard it during the [Republican National Convention], too. That's why we decided to start on a fact-check of it at the beginning of the week," Sanders said.
USA Today similarly ruled it "false" to say she was "put in charge of the border" and that her role was "more limited" than what a border czar would do. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a USA Today spokesperson said, "The USA TODAY Fact Check team works independently. Our team was not in communication with the Harris campaign and we stand by our reporting."
Liberal Media Abandons "Border Czar" Label for Kamala Harris as Democrats Anoint Her Presidential Nominee
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre cited "independent fact-checkers" touting the administration's talking points on the matter under questioning about Harris this week.
Axios went viral Wednesday with its report about the "border confusion" that has haunted Harris, telling readers "the Trump campaign and Republicans have tagged Harris repeatedly with the 'border czar' title — which she never actually had." However, critics cited Axios' own reporting from 2021 saying that Biden had appointed Harris "border czar." Axios later added an editor's note, stating, "This article has been updated and clarified to note that Axios was among the news outlets that incorrectly labeled Harris a ‘border czar’ in 2021."
Liberal Media Abandons "Border Czar" Label for Kamala Harris as Democrats Anoint Her Presidential Nominee
CNN also went through a drastic shift. During the Biden-Harris administration, multiple correspondents and commentators referred to Harris as the "border czar," including analyst Alyssa Farah Griffin.
But this week, CNN anchors including Jake Tapper, John Berman, and Kasie Hunt have rebuked the title. "[Former President Trump] said she was Joe Biden‘s border czar. She wasn‘t," CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale said Wednesday. "She was never put in charge of the border. She was given a much more limited assignment to lead a so-called root causes diplomatic effort trying to address the reasons in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras that people choose to migrate."
Liberal Media Abandons "Border Czar" Label for Kamala Harris as Democrats Anoint Her Presidential Nominee
"Many Republicans scoff at this kind of fact-check, they’re like ‘There were a bunch of articles back in 2021, they called her ‘border czar.' Frankly, those articles were wrong," Dale added, touting the outlet's own reports at the time that didn't embrace the term.
Several hosts on MSNBC similarly pushed back against the label. Symone Sanders, who previously served as Harris' chief spokeswoman in the Biden administration before joining the network, lumped in the border czar claims against
