Vice President Kamala Harris finally visits border after months of criticism, experts ponder her true motive

Kamala Harris traveled to El Paso, Texas Friday for her first visit as vice president to the U.S.-Mexico border following mounting criticism from Republicans and the mainstream media alike, with some observers feeling she conceded to pressure and others calling it a political photo-op hundreds of miles from the crisis' epicenter.

It took Harris three months from the time she was tapped by President Biden to be his point person on the migrant surge at the border to actually visit the border. The odd decision to physically stay away from the crisis resulted in probing questions from reporters, disapproval from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and an onslaught of social media hot takes. The GOP has mocked Harris along the way and tweeted a map indicating how far Harris was from the crisis to mark her 90th day as border czar.  Harris chief spokeswoman Symone Sanders insisted that Republican pressure did not influence the administration’s decision to send Harris to the border, but many media watchdogs think she only did after former President Donald Trump announced he planned to visit.