President Biden has come under fire for laughing off the deaths of two young Michigan brothers who were killed by fentanyl poisoning in 2020 as he reacted to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s efforts to pin the blame on his administration.
Speaking to a crowd of Democrats in Baltimore Wednesday night, Mr. Biden began mocking Ms. Greene, Georgia Republican, sarcastically asking, “Isn’t she amazing?”
Mr. Biden then turned to Ms. Greene’s comments on Capitol Hill this week. During a hearing on the fentanyl crisis, Ms. Greene asked Michigan mother and conservative activist Rebecca Kiessling — who lost two children to fentanyl deaths in 2020 — about the Biden administration’s struggles to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
The two sons, Caleb, 20, and Kyler, 18, died on July 29, 2020, after taking what they thought was Percocet, according to Ms. Kiessling’s testimony.
Ms. Greene said during the hearing that Ms. Kiessling’s sons would still be alive “if our government would secure our southern border.”
Ms. Kiessling responded, “Absolutely.”
The exchange was posted on Ms. Greene’s Twitter account.
“Listen to this mother, who lost two children to fentanyl poisoning, tell the truth about both of her sons’ murders because of the Biden administration’s refusal to secure our border and stop the cartels from murdering Americans every day by Chinese fentanyl,” Ms. Greene wrote.
CNN noted that former President Donald Trump was in the White House when Ms. Kiessling’s sons died.
A spokesperson for Ms. Greene did not return a request for comment from The Washington Times.
Mr. Biden mocked the accusation Wednesday night.
“She was very specific — I shouldn’t digress, probably — I read, she was very specific recently saying that a mom, a poor mother who lost two kids to fentanyl, that I killed her sons. Well, the interesting thing is, that the fentanyl they took came during the last administration,” Mr. Biden said, laughing.
Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, was among those who seethed over Mr. Biden’s comments.
“@POTUS needs to apologize immediately. No person, let alone the president of the United States, laughs when speaking about a mother who lost two sons to fentanyl poisoning,” he wrote on Twitter. “What, President Biden, do you find amusing about this?”
Jake Schneider of the Republican National Committee tweeted, “Truly the lowest bar possible for Biden — what a disgusting person. Losing children to fentanyl trafficking is never, ever funny. Just vile.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Republicans have repeatedly blasted Mr. Biden for not doing enough to crack down on fentanyl that is largely produced in China and has made its way into the U.S. across the Mexican border.
A record 107,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2021, and 71,000 of those deaths were linked to fentanyl and related compounds, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2020, which was Mr. Trump’s final full year in office, there were 94,000 drug overdoses and roughly 58,000 linked to fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. That was up from nearly 71,000 overdose deaths in 2019, of which 36,000 were linked to fentanyl and other synthetic compounds.
Mr. Biden talked about the nation’s fentanyl crisis in his State of the Union speech last month, provoking outbursts from Republicans.
Ms. Greene shouted that the drug was made in China, while two other voices yelled at the president, “It’s your fault.” Republicans have alleged that Mr. Biden hasn’t cracked down on fentanyl because of his family’s extensive business dealings with that country.
“So let’s launch a major surge to stop fentanyl production, end the sale and trafficking, with more drug detection machines, inspection of cargo to stop pills and powder at the border,” Mr. Biden said, but did not mention China as the source of the drug.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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