House Speaker Paul Ryan paid a visit to the Texas/Mexico Border where he was taken for a ride by a horse he could not control. Border Patrol agents quickly corralled the horse that attempted to run off with Speaker Ryan and led him back to the group.
The incident occurred as Ryan was receiving a staged border show from U.S. Border Patrol officials. During part of the tour, Ryan mounted a horse, without a riding helmet according to a criticism made by The Hill, to get an up-close look at the border. Shortly after mounting up, Ryan’s horse appeared to take off with him, and the speaker seemed not to be able to control the trained patrol animal. Two Border Patrol agents were seen riding to his rescue. The two agents corralled the horse and led the speaker back to the group.
Alert: Paul Ryan on a horse (pretty, pretty good!) pic.twitter.com/9OddyKqR8Q
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 22, 2017
This was Speaker Ryan’s first visit to the border despite having run for vice president in 2012 serving as Speaker of the House for more than two years.
House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Representative John Carter (R-TX) accompanied the speaker on the tour.
Following his tour, which also included a boat ride along the river and a border security briefing, Speaker Ryan discussed the Trump Administration’s new immigration policies and the construction of the wall.
Ryan said he was there to examine the challenges of securing the border and learn more about the issues facing border communities, Inform News reported.
However, Breitbart Texas learned the speaker did not meet directly with representatives of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), the union that represents 18,000 agents.
NBPC President Brandon Judd told Breitbart Texas he looks forward to working with the speaker in the future regarding the issues facing his agents.
Breitbart Texas’ Editor-in-Chief Brandon Darby has frequently encouraged elected officials to bypass the “Potemkin Village” tour put on by U.S. Customs and Border Protection executive management and meet directly with the men and women who put their lives on the line every day.
Darby said it is critical for our leaders or prospective leaders to talk with the men and women who patrol the border. He said they also need to do more than just see the fancy dog and pony show conducted by Border Patrol executives for VIPs.
“They get this big fancy tour that is not representative of what the agents usually are dealing with, and how unsecured the border usually is,” Darby said on Breitbart News Radio.
Darby has repeatedly taken political leaders to the border and lets them experience the realities on the ground, particularly at night.
Darby said there are political leaders who take the open border problem seriously. He relayed that he was impressed and encouraged when he caught Louie Gohmert on the border, “undercover, dressed like a bum, hiding, talking to agents trying to see for himself what was going on.”
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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