J.D. Vance's claim that Biden is targeting 'MAGA voters' with fentanyl

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/11/jd-vances-claim-that-biden-is-targeting-maga-voters-with-fentanyl/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/CgxdZ

“If you wanted to kill a bunch of MAGA voters in the middle of the heartland, how better than to target them and their kids with this deadly fentanyl? … It does look intentional. It’s like Joe Biden wants to punish the people who didn’t vote for him and opening up the floodgates to the border is one way to do it.”
— GOP Senate candidate J.D. Vance, in an interview with Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit, April 29

Shortly before he won the Republican primary for Ohio’s Senate race, Vance made this startling observation. Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy” and a conservative commentator, argued that President Biden’s border policies had reverberated across the country, allowing not only undocumented immigrants but also deadly drugs to flow into the country — with a nefarious purpose. He suggested that Biden was intentionally allowing drugs such as fentanyl to flood the United States with the intention of trying to kill supporters of former president Donald Trump in the “heartland” of the country.

Whoa, that’s extreme even by today’s standards of political rhetoric. We’re not sure how to even evaluate that. But we can certainly dig into the data to see whether there is even a basis for his claim that Biden has allowed the flow of drugs and deaths to increase.

The Facts

As is often the case, the data with which to make a complete analysis is incomplete — or not yet up to date.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports monthly data on border seizures of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid drug that can be lethal even in small doses. But by itself, these statistics only tell you about the drugs that are caught, not what might be missed.

*snip*

[Turbineguy]

1. He'll never win. He's not crazy enough.

[C_U_L8R]

3. So... Trumpers are drugged out on opiates and meth

That partially explains their fucked up behavior.

[gratuitous]

5. If they were any smarter, they might not be Trumpers

So it's a cinch they won't realize that J.D. is calling them a bunch of drug addicts.

[keithbvadu2]

4. Targeting the people who buy the drugs... MAGAs.

Targeting the people who buy the drugs... MAGAs.

Is JD going to deny his supporters the drugs they want?

[Carlitos Brigante]

6. OK, so he prefers blow. Got it. nt

[Tickle]

7. fentanyl got my son

and he was not a republican. I'm sure about that to

I had wished Biden would tackle this fentanyl coming into the country but there's so much going on it has just fallen to the bottom of the barrel so to speak.

[keep_left]

12. I'm truly sorry for your loss. Fentanyl and other super-potent opioids are a huge...

...problem not easily solved. One of the biggest challenges with them is their extraordinary potency; they are so much stronger than other drugs that the shipments are compact and extremely easy to conceal. CBS News ran a story the other night showing what the border police are up against in their attempts to keep fentanyl from entering the country. The concealment methods are ingenious and quite effective, similar to what one of the terrorist groups tried a few years ago where explosives were hidden in printer cartridges.

Sometimes when they are able to interdict a drug shipment, the police end up being poisoned by the fentanyl they have just seized.

[Tickle]

13. thank you for your kind post

When I read my son's autopsy report I was shocked as how little fentanyl he had in his system. It's truly a hard fight and sadly it's not our only fight. I wish people didn't feel like an addict has zero worth. My son was intelligent very much involved in politics. I will forever miss our talks, he just couldn't kill that old proverbial monkey on his back.

Peace

[Samrob]

8. Blaming Biden for the drug habits of his followers and the people he wrote about. Nice. nt

[Red Pest]

9. Is this supposed to be satire? Irony? The Onion?

So, J.D. Vance is saying that the MAGAts, his supporters, are a bunch of drug-addicted fools? Then these idiots go ahead and vote for him? Well, I do remember when orange pustule said, "We love the poorly educated!"

[Diamond_Dog]

10. Hillbilly Lies

[sop]

11. Republicans are always projecting...

(What J. D. meant to say) "If you wanted to kill a bunch of Democratic voters in the inner cities, how better than to target them and their kids with a flood of illegal guns? It does look intentional. It’s like Republicans want to punish the people who didn’t vote for them and opening up the floodgates to deadly firearms is one way to do it.”

[NickB79]

14. The party of personal responsibility

Is blaming the President for them not being able to stop doing drugs.

Sounds a lot like what Rush Limbaugh used to say, before he went deaf from rampant opioid use.

[onecaliberal]

15. He needs to be sued. This stupid bullshit is enough.

Sue all these pigs and then watch them all go away.

[Ms. Toad]

16. So he's saying that MAGAts are druggies?

Wonder who prompted him to think of that model. Jr, perhaps?