Washington Examiner senior columnist Guy Benson expressed skepticism over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s take on border security and immigration on Monday.
Clinton said Saturday at the Munich Security Conference there is “a legitimate reason” to debate issues such as immigration, but added that it “went too far” and needs to be fixed “in a humane way with secure borders that don’t torture and kill people.”
However, Benson said he is “not sure” whether Clinton or other Democrats who voice more moderate stances on issues like immigration are “true believers.”
“I think they recognize that they need to say these things and deliver less chaotic results for the electorate for the purpose of winning elections and gaining power,” Benson said on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom. “Now that’s a question of motives. It’s impossible to know what’s happening in her heart. I just didn’t see her making comments like this publicly when her party was in charge, when it was spinning out of control, then Trump ran on this, won on this, [and] suddenly she’s got a message for the world.”
Benson added that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), who is seen as a possible candidate to seek the White House in 2028, will “pick up on anything that he wants to” to win. He also described Newsom as a “shape-shifting character” every week.
Benson also cited the recent political news in Virginia, where Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) sounded “very sensible and somewhat moderate” on the campaign trail and shifted to “go hard left,” once she took office.
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The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for a statewide vote that could allow the Democratic state legislature to redraw the state’s congressional map mid-decade, giving the party four additional House seats. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Democrats will do “whatever it takes” to pass the ballot initiative on April 21.
Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said last week that Spanberger’s actions as governor are those of a “progressive Democratic leader,” contrary to how her campaign portrayed her. He cited her support to raise taxes in his explanation, adding that the governor has made “big promises” on state-supported healthcare and child care and needs to find funding “somewhere.”