Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed Wednesday to send special forces into Mexico to seek out the cartels that traffic fentanyl into the U.S. and “we’re going to shoot them dead.”
Speaking at the Republican presidential debate in Miami, Mr. DeSantis said he would also build a border wall and fund it by taxing the money that Mexican citizens earn in the U.S. and send back home.
“I’m even going to build the border wall and have Mexico pay for it,” he said, in a shot at the man not on the stage — former President Donald Trump.
In a night of many disagreements, the border and fentanyl were singular points of agreement among the five candidates.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he would deploy the National Guard to help Customs and Border Protection sniff out fentanyl coming in from Mexico, and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said he would slap sanctions of the cartels to dry up their finances.
When Mr. DeSantis told the story of meeting a man whose son was killed after taking a pharmaceutical laced with fentanyl, fellow candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said that story is all too common — and he said it’s an injustice to call it an overdose.
“It’s closer to bioterrorism,” he said, adding that justifies the kind of aggressive military approach the candidates were talking about.
Mr. Christie said the demand side also needs attention and the country must make a concerted effort at treatment to break the opioid addiction cycle.
“It is a disease,” he said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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