Sen. Bernie Sanders broke sharply with his party this week, praising President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement while criticizing former President Joe Biden’s handling of the southern border, as reported by Fox News.

During an appearance on The Tim Dillon Show, Sanders said Trump “did a better job” securing the border and urged Democrats to return to an enforcement-based immigration approach.

“So long as we have nation-states, you’ve got to have borders,” Sanders said. “If you don’t have any borders, then you don’t have a nation.”

The Vermont independent continued:

“Trump did a better job. I don’t like Trump, you know, but we should have a secure border, and it ain’t that hard to do.”

The comments, aired in the Wednesday podcast episode and widely shared on X and YouTube, drew immediate attention from both sides of the political spectrum. The Republican National Committee’s research division posted the clip within hours of the broadcast.

“Biden didn’t do it,” Sanders added, referring to border enforcement. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you that overall [Biden] did a good job — it was not.”

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Sanders’ remarks came as he promoted his new book, Fight Oligarchy, and fielded questions from host Tim Dillon about the direction of the Democratic Party. The episode marked one of the senator’s most explicit critiques of his own party’s immigration policies.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection data show that migrant encounters reached a record 2.47 million in fiscal year 2023 — a sharp increase from roughly 458,000 in President Trump’s final year in office.

Sanders cited the ongoing crisis as evidence of failed leadership on both sides of the aisle, saying the U.S. has the “technology and manpower” to secure the border but lacks the political will to act.

Sanders’ tone reflects a major departure from his previous stance. During his 2020 presidential campaign, he dismissed the notion of a border crisis and accused Trump of “demonizing immigrants.”

In a Fox News town hall in March 2020, Sanders said he “would not close the borders” during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling such policies “xenophobic.”

In January 2019, as President Trump made a televised address calling for urgent border action, Sanders responded by saying “we don’t need to create artificial crises.”

The senator’s latest comments suggest a shift toward acknowledging the scale of the border problem. His statement that it “ain’t that hard” to secure the border echoed arguments long made by conservatives who have pushed for stronger enforcement and physical barriers.

Sanders’ office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for further comment.

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