“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.”

He added pointedly, “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 remarks, aired in the podcast episode on Wednesday and now circulating widely on X and YouTube, mark one of the Vermont independent’s sharpest breaks with his party.

BERNIE SANDERS SAYS TRUMP’S NOT STUPID TO REALIZE ‘SYSTEM IS BROKEN,’ EVEN AS HE MAKES IT WORSE

Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont and ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, arrives for a confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Biden didn’t do it,” he added, faulting several administrations for failing to enforce the law.

The clip drew immediate attention from across the political spectrum, with the Republican National Committee’s research arm posting it within hours to X.

Sanders, who ran for president twice on a populist economic platform, has previously broken with his party on immigration enforcement, warning during the 2020 campaign about the risks of “open borders” rhetoric. He said the U.S. has the “technology and manpower” to secure the border but that leaders of both parties have failed to do so.

“I’m not going to sit here and tell you that overall [Biden] did a good job — it was not,” Sanders said.

BROADCAST BIAS: ON UPSIDE-DOWN TV NETWORKS, ICE AND THE NATIONAL GUARD ARE THE DANGEROUS LAW-BREAKERS

A family of five claiming to be from Guatemala and a man stating he was from Peru, in pink shirt, walk through the desert after crossing the border wall in the Tucson Sector of the U.S.-Mexico border, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument near Lukeville, Ariz.  (AP Photo/Matt York)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection logged 2.47 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2023, an all-time high, up from about 458,000 in Trump’s final year.

The senator made the remarks as he promoted his new book, “Fight Oligarchy,” and fielded Dillon’s pointed questions about what the Democrat Party’s platform should be.

Sanders’ tone marks a sharp shift from his 2020 campaign, when he dismissed talk of a “border crisis” and accused Trump of “demonizing immigrants.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a “No Kings” rally in Washington, D.C., Saturday. (Fox News / Pool)

During a March 2020 Fox News town hall, Sanders said he “would not close the borders” even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, calling border shutdowns “xenophobic.”

In January 2019, as Trump in his first term as president made a prime-time case that a border crisis required urgent action, Sanders downplayed the situation, saying at the time “we don’t need to create artificial crises” at the border.

Given that history, Sanders’ new tone represents a striking reversal. By saying “it ain’t that hard” to secure the border and urging Democrats to “have a border,” the Vermont independent is echoing long-standing conservative arguments.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Sanders’ office for additional comment.

Jasmine Baehr is a Breaking News Writer for Fox News Digital, where she covers politics, the military, faith and culture.

The post Sanders praises Trump, slams Biden on border: ‘You’ve got to have borders, period’ appeared first on My Blog.

“We have been in touch with the student’s family and friends to offer support and learn all we can about the student’s recent activities and whereabouts,” Middlebury Vice President for Student Affairs Smita Ruzicka and Associate Vice President of Safety Demitria Kirby said in a Facebook post Sunday.

Smith, a trans woman from California, is a senior double majoring in computer science and statistics and a former Middlebury women’s swimming and diving team athlete.

Lia Smith, 21, was reported missing on Sunday after she was last spotted on campus on Friday around 9 p.m. (Middlebury Police Department)

COLLEGE STUDENT’S UNSOLVED MURDER SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON SERIAL KILLER AS NEW THEORIES EMERGE

Middlebury Police Department Sgt. Nathan Hayes encouraged students to share what they know with authorities about Smith’s last known moments on campus.

“If anybody knows anything, even if it’s a friend that’s just afraid that maybe the information they may have might not be useful, please share it with the police,” he told the student newspaper Monday.

The Middlebury Police Department said that the college senior is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Old Chapel on the campus of Middlebury College in Vermont.  (John Greim/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

AMY BRADLEY CASE HINGES ON ‘SOMEBODY REMEMBERING’ AS INVESTIGATORS HUNT FOR NEW LEADS 27 YEARS LATER: EXPERT

The investigation is ongoing, with police using drones to identify possible search areas to find the 21-year-old. Police said that Smith was last seen in a building on campus at approximately 9 p.m. on Friday.

The department is asking anyone with information on Smith’s whereabouts to call 802-388-3191 or submit a tip online through the department’s website.

Sign of Middlebury College in Vermont. (Toby Talbot / AP)

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Middlebury College is a prestigious private liberal arts college, known as a “Little Ivy,” in Addison County, Vermont, located in the state’s Champlain Valley. According to the college, the campus population is about 2,800 undergraduate students.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Middlebury Police Department and Middlebury College for comment.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a U.S. Writer at Fox News Digital. 

You can follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post Vermont police search for student who vanished from Middlebury College appeared first on My Blog.

Lia Smith, 21, was last seen on Middlebury College’s campus on the night of Oct. 17 and was reported missing that Sunday, the school announced. Smith, a trans woman from California, is a senior double majoring in computer science and statistics and a former Middlebury women’s swimming and diving team athlete.

On Thursday afternoon, around 1:30 p.m., Vermont State Police said they located an unidentified body in a field west of the Middlebury College campus. The location where the body was found is in the town of Cornwall near The Knoll, the college’s organic farm, the agency said.

Lia Smith, 21, was reported missing on Sunday, after she was last spotted on campus on Friday around 9 p.m. (Middlebury Police Department)

VERMONT POLICE SEARCH FOR STUDENT WHO VANISHED FROM MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE

Police said they secured the area and began a death investigation. At this time, officials are awaiting an autopsy to confirm the identity of the victim and to determine the cause and manner of death.

That autopsy is scheduled to take place on Friday in Burlington, Vermont. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Vermont Department of Health for comment.

At this time, investigators said they do not believe the death is suspicious.

Sign of Middlebury College in Vermont. (Toby Talbot / AP)

COLLEGE STUDENT’S UNSOLVED MURDER SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON SERIAL KILLER AS NEW THEORIES EMERGE

Police initially said they would hold a live press update on Thursday afternoon, but canceled it shortly before it was set to begin. The Middlebury Police Department called in additional agencies, including the Vermont State Police, New York State Police and the FBI, to help after trying to find Smith using ground searches and drones for several days.

Middlebury College President Ian Baucom said in a statement on Instagram Thursday that the college is “doing all we can to support our community right now.”

“I know that this is extraordinarily difficult news to receive as we continue to hold Lia and all her family and friends tight in our hearts,” he wrote. “As ever, please care for yourselves and one another.”

Old Chapel on the campus of Middlebury College in Vermont. Middlebury College is considered a “Little Ivy”, a term for small, elite liberal arts colleges with academic reputations comparable to the Ivy League. (John Greim/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Middlebury College is a prestigious private liberal arts college, known as a “Little Ivy,” in Addison County, Vermont, located in the state’s Champlain Valley. According to the college, the campus population is about 2,800 undergraduate students.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Middlebury Police Department and Middlebury College for comment.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a U.S. Writer at Fox News Digital. 

You can follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post Body found during search for missing Vermont college student Lia Smith near Middlebury campus appeared first on My Blog.