By blaming Biden for the New Orleans attack, Trump may be setting himself up for failure

WASHINGTON — The terrorist attack that killed 14 people in New Orleans is unacceptable, inexcusable and emblematic of a failing nation whose president ranks as the worst in history, according to President-elect Donald Trump.

Having held President Joe Biden to that standard, Trump is now at risk of having his withering verdict flung back at him should a comparable attack happen on his watch, which starts in just 17 days when he takes the oath of office.

In social media posts, Trump suggested that a porous border gave rise to the massacre on Bourbon Street, allowing criminals to freely enter the country and do harm. As he described it, the attack jibes with his long-held position that undefended borders invite violent crime.

“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true,” he wrote on New Year’s Day, hours after the man plowed into a crowd of revelers.

Yet authorities have laid out facts about the case that belie Trump’s account.

They’ve identified the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, as a U.S. citizen and Army veteran who lived in Texas.

Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said in an interview that when he asked the FBI’s counterterrorism chief Thursday whether there was “any foreign nexus whatsoever” to the attack, the answer was no.

Mass killings have grown sadly commonplace in the United States, spanning Republican and Democratic administrations alike. The perpetrators' motivations vary, leaving elected officials groping for solutions and often finding none. Trump’s denunciation of Biden could boomerang if there are copycat crimes or similar tragedies when he’s back in the White House and Biden is no longer around to blame.

“We have a very polarized society, and there are extremists who are prepared to use violence, and it’s easy to do in America,” said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer. “You can just go buy a gun.

“The unfortunate reality of America is that violence like this is kind of the norm. It would be surprising if you had a holiday without some horrific mass casualty event,” he added.

Another question is whether Trump should have weighed in when New Orleans was on edge and authorities were still piecing together what happened and why. Part of Trump’s appeal to voters is his willingness to break from protocol and simply say what he thinks. But in an instance when a criminal investigation is underway, it would have been prudent for someone with so large a megaphone to hold back, Trump critics said.

Leon Panetta, a former CIA director, defense secretary and White House chief of staff in earlier Democratic administrations, said in an interview: “I get the sense that in some ways he is still in the campaign and still trying to stress the themes that he stressed during the campaign, whether the facts support those comments or not.

“The problem is that he’s now president-elect of the United States. And you really can’t use those same kind of tactics without verifying exactly what the facts are. That really is the responsibility of the president to make sure what he says to the American people is backed up by the facts.”

Trump’s initial post came at 10:48 a.m. ET Wednesday, shortly after Fox News reported that the suspect’s truck had crossed the border into the United States two days earlier in Eagle Pass, Texas — a town known for its large number of border crossings during the Biden administration.

Fox later corrected its report to say the truck had actually crossed the border in November, with a driver who "did not appear to be" the suspect in the New Orleans attack.

Conservatives on social media took note of the initial report, concluding that the suspect was a migrant and that lax border security might be to blame for the attack.

For the rest of the day, Trump didn't post any comments related to the attack, spending time at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Just after midnight, Trump posted again on Truth Social, but this time his criticism was more general: “Our Country is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World! This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership. The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job.”

At 9:08 a.m. Thursday, Trump followed up with another message, broadening his criticism of the Biden administration.

“With the ‘Biden Open Border’s Policy’ I said, many times during our Rallies, and elsewhere, that Radical Islamic Terrorism, and other forms of violent crime will become so bad in America that it will become hard to even imagine or believe,” he wrote. “That time has come, only worse than ever imagined.”

In a statement Thursday, incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung defended Trump's message on immigration.

“President Trump rightfully highlighted that criminals crossing the border have committed some of the most heinous crimes this country has witnessed in its history," he said. "That is a factual statement, and it is a big reason why Americans overwhelmingly voted for him and gave him a massive mandate. It is also true that radical Islamic terrorism and its warped ideology have crossed into our country and infected those looking to spread hate and violence.”

An ally defended Trump’s statements and said of the suspects in the New Orleans attack and an explosion in a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas: “These folks — while Americans, and especially regarding New Orleans — were certainly radicalized somewhere. So whether it’s the northern or southern border, I think this certainly bolsters his argument to put a stop to illegal crossings and go after those who may be in the country.”

The attack in New Orleans and the incident at the Las Vegas hotel have also intensified the debate surrounding Trump’s choices for key national security positions.

Trump’s pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and his selection for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, among others, have faced scrutiny over their qualifications.

The images of a pickup truck racing along a crowded Bourbon Street with a black Islamic State flag attached to the hitch were stark reminders of the importance of those jobs. A Trump transition official predicted that the attacks would help ensure those national security selections are ultimately confirmed.

“Not sure it happens on January 20, but the idea that folks important to our national security that President Trump nominated should be confirmed quickly was always the case, but that urgency has been increased 1000x after the terrorist attacks over the past few days," the official wrote to NBC News. "If there are remaining Republican senators who still are on the fence, it’s time for them to get off, or hear from the American people.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com