Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., criticized President Joe Biden on Tuesday over his handling of the southern border, saying he did not do enough to convince Americans of his ability to manage immigration.

Democrats, Torres wrote on social media, came up short in the presidential election partly due to the president’s approach to the border, which left many sanctuary cities overwhelmed with migrants.

“We as Democrats paid a heavy price for the Biden Administration’s malpractice of acting like a deer in the headlights as the migrant crisis raged on for years,” Torres wrote.

Republicans, he continued, “won the issue” by taking a much more aggressive stance on immigration. President-elect Donald Trump had repeatedly talked about mass deportations while on the campaign trail.

“Lesson learned: when there’s a metaphorical fire provoking widespread public outrage, you must act decisively to extinguish it or else the voters will decisively punish you at the ballot box,” Torres wrote.

Biden’s executive order, which aimed to curb illegal immigration and asylum seeking, was too little too late, Torres suggested.

“If the EO enjoyed broad public support, why did the President take so long before issuing it?” he asked. “Though popular among most Americans, the EO was unpopular among far-left elites, who have been given outsized power over the policymaking and messaging of the Democratic Party.”

Reacting to the post was New York City Councilmember Inna Vernikov.

“And when you dismiss legitimate concerns of the public (from all parties and stripes), and dismiss it as ‘just a right-wing narrative,’ voters will reject you at the ballot box,” she wrote. “Democrats did this continuously and shamelessly.”

Democrats continue to take a hard look in the mirror after a decisive defeat on Election Day. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who previously ran for president as a Democrat, called Monday for a rebuilding of his dad’s “beloved” Democratic Party.

“This is all that remains of my Dad’s beloved Democratic Party: neoliberal elites debating political theory and election strategy rather than values and vision,” he wrote via X. “Democrats need to change one thing about their party: everything! Start by repudiating globalism, war, surveillance, and censorship, and try to shed their contempt for working Americans.”

Kennedy is now poised for a top position in the Trump administration after dropping out of the race to endorse the president-elect.

Have a news tip? Contact Jackson Walker at jacwalker@sbgtv.com or at x.com/jlwalker.