(UnitedVoice.com) – For more than a decade, the opioid epidemic has ravaged the country. The existence of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has made it even worse. For the first time ever, more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2021. Over 80,000 of those deaths were the result of opioids, largely because of fentanyl.
The border crisis is blamed for making the problem worse. Fentanyl is made in places like China, then shipped to drug cartels in Mexico and other Latin American countries. The drugs are then smuggled into the US, where they flood the streets and kill people at a rapid pace. Recently, a congresswoman called President Joe Biden out for not solving the border crisis. The commander-in-chief is being criticized for how he responded.
Inappropriate Laughter
On Tuesday, February 28, Michigan mother Rebecca Kiessling testified before Congress about the opioid crisis. She lost her two sons to fentanyl-related overdoses on July 29, 2020. During the hearing, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) asked the mourning mother if she thought her children would be alive if the government secured the border. Kiessling responded, “Absolutely.”
Greene posted the exchange on Twitter and blamed President Biden for the deaths of the woman’s sons.
Listen to this mother, who lost two children to fentanyl poisoning, tell the truth about both of her son’s murders because of the Biden administrations refusal to secure our border and stop the Cartel’s from murdering Americans everyday by Chinese fentanyl. pic.twitter.com/HRD5SX0Td8
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) February 28, 2023
The next day, Biden responded to the allegations made by Greene. He told the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference about the congresswoman blaming him for the deaths of the woman’s two sons. According to The Hill, he said, “Well, the interesting thing is, that fentanyl they took came during the last administration.”
Then the president chuckled.
Mother Responds
The laugh from Biden enraged Kiessling. The Daily Mail reported she responded to the president in a video saying he mocked the death of her sons just because Greene misspoke. On Twitter, the grieving mother shared remarks from Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), who said the president “needs to apologize for [his remarks] immediately.”
.@POTUS needs to apologize for this immediately. No person, let alone the president of the United States, laughs when speaking about a mother who lost two sons to fentanyl poisoning. What, President Biden, do you find amusing about this? https://t.co/ItRtOa8x4Y
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) March 2, 2023
Kiessling then went on Fox News’ “The Faulkner Focus,” where she called on Biden to apologize for his remarks. She called him a “horrible human being” and accused him of not caring about the other parents who have lost their children because of his border policies.
A mom in grief calling for President Biden to apologize for his heartless and inappropriate behavior. @RebeccaKiesslin a mom whose 2 sons died of fentanyl cries out to Biden: “How can you sit there and joke about it?” #bidenbordercrisis pic.twitter.com/Hmsg5w4Y9P
— The Faulkner Focus (@FaulknerFocus) March 2, 2023
The White House responded to the incident on Thursday. The Hill reported Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president’s words were “being mischaracterized by someone who is regularly discredited” for repeating conspiracy theories and lies, referring to Greene. She went on to say the POTUS has lost two children and his first wife. When he spoke about the Kiessling’s losses, the press secretary claimed he “expressed sympathy to her.”
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