WATCH: Pete Buttigieg And CNBC 'Squawk Box' Host Get Into It Over The Border

Buttigieg argued that the failure of a bipartisan border agreement was due to the influence of former President Donald Trump.

Buttigieg expressed his disappointment with the situation at the border, stating, "It was especially disappointing to see what happened with the border, right. You got congressional GOP talked about the border every chance they got so you would think they would be interested in addressing it." He further criticized Trump's role in the matter, saying, "It looked like there was gonna be a chance to do something real with real resources at the border only for Donald Trump —who’s not even an elected official — to come in and kill it with the chill that he put on."

Kernan countered Buttigieg's comments, suggesting that the Biden administration only became interested in resolving border issues when it became a significant campaign topic. Kernan said, "Every time we hear those talking points, that suddenly it was Republicans who ruined the border. That’s why people get so frustrated. We know what President Biden said about inviting people in, we know that he got rid of all the things that were keeping the border closed that President Trump had put in, we know that he got rid of all those."

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Buttigieg refuted Kernan's claims, stating, "It’s literally not true." The conversation became heated as Kernan pointed to the high numbers of people crossing the border under Biden's administration compared to Trump's. Buttigieg retorted that Biden "got rid of the policy to tear children out of the arms of their parents."

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Buttigieg further criticized congressional Republicans, saying, "There have been bipartisan efforts to get something done here. But I really believe we’ve gotten to the point where many congressional Republicans find it so useful as a cudgel that they would rather keep the problem going for political uses, then solve the problem and risk the chance that the President gets sharing credit for that."

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Kernan responded by referencing Biden's poll numbers, saying, "The reason that some of these numbers stay where they are, is because it just seems like instead of actually owning some of the issues that we have, instead of acknowledging that the President maybe has lost the step, the administration keeps saying, ‘Don’t believe your lying eyes.'"

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Buttigieg reiterated his stance, blaming GOP lawmakers for not addressing the border issues. He argued that the "common sense position" is for more legal immigration and less illegal immigration. He added, "And yet when there’s a chance to actually do that, that’s not what happened. The last administration cut legal immigration and meanwhile, our economy is pulling people just as much as terrible conditions in Latin America are pushing people."

The bipartisan border deal, which was opposed by Trump, was rejected by Senate Republicans last month following conservative backlash.