Rep. Colin Allred said his comment about a “racist wall” at the southern border was “taken out of context.”
Allred (D-TX), who is challenging Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in November, previously referred to a southern border wall as “racist,” which became the subject of right-leaning campaign ads in Texas this year, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. The Democratic congressman was confronted about the remark in an interview with KXAN on Monday.
“Do you still believe the border wall is racist, and would you support legislation that constructs more?” journalist Ryan Chandler asked.
“Well, they’re talking, that’s a comment taken out of context, really,” Allred said. “But, listen, border security, as I’ve always said, is about more than physical barriers. Although, physical barriers are an important part of it.”
Allred’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment asking for clarification about how his previous claims about a racist border wall were “out of context.”
The comments, as first reported by the Daily Caller last year, reveal a consistent message conflating border security and racism.
“I’ll tell you what, if they build that racist wall, my generation is the one that will tear it down. We are not going to have a wall in this country,” Allred said in 2018 at a Young Progressive Christians of Dallas event.
“I wanna briefly talk about this racist wall. The symbol of this country cannot be a fence with barbed wire on top of it. It has to remain the Statute of Liberty. I’ll tell you what. If they build that wall, my generation will be the one that tears it down. We will not have this in this country. We will not have this wall in our country. We are not going to waste billions of dollars on a racist campaign promise, and we are not going to turn the symbol of this country into a wall with barbed wire on top of it,” he said at the 2018 Big East Forum.
Allred’s campaign ran ads this year with promises to “fix the border.” However, he dismissed Republicans’ concerns about the border in 2022, referring to a “right-wing echo chamber,” according to CNN.
“I don’t hear a lot about the border here in Dallas, and I’m in a border state. Obviously, we want to have comprehensive immigration reform. We want to try and, you know, address some of these things,” Allred said.
“I don’t think it’s a top-of-mind issue,” he continued.