Kayleigh McEnany fact-checks Karine Jean-Pierre's claim that fentanyl is at 'historic lows'
McEnany, 'Outnumbered' respond to deaths of Americans in Mexico
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Outnumbered" co-host Kayleigh McEnany pushed back Wednesday after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that "fentanyl at the border" has dropped to historic lows during the Biden administration. Jean-Pierre was responding to a question from Fox News' White House correspondent Peter Doocy about four Americans being kidnapped, and two killed, in Mexico.
FOUR AMERICANS KIDNAPPED IN MEXICO: WHAT WE KNOW
KAYLEIGH MCENANY: We have a White House, an entire branch of government, the executive branch, who has not even managed to diagnose the problem. You can’t get to a solution until you say, here’s the problem. Karine Jean-Pierre, I have a fact check for you here. Here are seizures on fentanyl … CBP jumped from about 4,800 pounds in 2020 to 14,700 pounds seized. As Bill Melugin points out, seizures indicate that there’s more fentanyl coming across the border. Also indicative of that is U.S. overdose deaths that have increased 800% in the last four years because of fentanyl use. Overdose deaths, 70,000 just last year. … They haven’t identified the problem. Now, Senator Lindsey Graham, he puts forward one solution. It’s the authorization of use of military force. …I would note that these cartels are non-state actors. So you’re getting into Mexico and their sovereignty here. It’s a little dicey. Senator Ted Cruz has said, I don’t agree with Lindsey Graham’s approach in full. And [Rep.] Mike Waltz said we can do something short of U.S. military, let’s go into Mexico. And that could be drones, military technology, something that’s kind of a hybrid.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a daily news briefing at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on March 6, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Jean-Pierre was blasted on Tuesday for downplaying chaos at the Mexican border, even as the nation reels from four Americans being kidnapped in Mexico, claiming that fentanyl is currently at "historic lows-historic levels" under Biden’s presidency.
"Possible misspeak? In no way is fentanyl at ‘historic lows’. Seizures and ODs have hit record highs," Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin tweeted.
"KJP appears to be implying that record high seizures are a good thing. It’s a double edged sword. Border officials will tell you they only catch a fraction of what comes through. The seizures show cartels are pushing MASSIVE amounts of fentanyl across the border. CBP/BP do a great job stopping what they can - but fentanyl is all over the country right now."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Alexander Hall contributed to this report.