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Opinion: Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner Katie Hobbs just flipped on lifting the Title 42 public health restrictions on the border. It’s not her first U-turn on the campaign trail.
By Laurie Roberts | Arizona Republic
Add Secretary of State Katie Hobbs to the ever-lengthening list of Democrats who have figured out that President Joe Biden is about to deal a body blow to the party’s November prospects.
Hobbs now believes that Biden should reverse his “rash decision” to end Title 42, the public health policy that has been used to expel asylum seekers more than 1.7 million times since the start of the pandemic.
The frontrunner in the Democratic governor’s race told CNN that lifting Title 42 “without a clear plan to secure our border would be a disaster.”
She’s right. But compare that with her answer on Politics Unplugged on April 3, when 3TV/CBS 5’s Dennis Welch asked her if Biden’s decision to reopen the border to asylum seekers on May 23 was the right one.
“Title 42 isn’t working,” she replied.
Republicans were quick to jump on Hobbs
Sounds like somebody’s been reading public opinion polls since then.
Or maybe she just finally decided to follow the lead of Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, who early on saw a political disaster in the making with the floodgates about to open on an administration wholly unprepared to deal with the coming surge.
On Monday, Republicans quickly jumped on Hobbs’ flip.
Matt Salmon, running a distant third in the GOP governor’s race, immediately pumped out both a press release and a tweet about Hobbs’ U-turn.
“This humiliating reversal is yet another reminder that Hobbs is uniquely incapable of running our state,” he said.
