The Chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), made an astonishing observation about China and the U.S. fentanyl crisis during an interview on CBS News.
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst accused China of "intentionally poisoning" Americans by not stopping the supply chain networks that produce fentanyl. https://t.co/sgJhl22kLv
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) February 11, 2023
During the Friday interview, Ernst claimed that communist China is conducting warfare against the U.S. by intentionally flooding the nation with fentanyl, which is now killing millions of American youths. Ernst claimed that the Chinese are selling the precursor chemicals into Mexico, where various cartels are working on using the chemicals to produce fentanyl before smuggling them into the U.S.
Sen. Joni Ernst says China is "intentionally poisoning" Americans amid fentanyl crisis. Republican Sen. Joni Ernst accused China of "intentionally poisoning" Americans by not stopping the supply chain networks that produce fentanyl. "The Chinese are… https://t.co/YBmXAwcyll pic.twitter.com/b6N8vOUOVc
— USAUnify (@usaunify) February 11, 2023
“I think that the Chinese are intentionally poisoning America,” Ernst told CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge while adding that the assessment is based on briefings she has received. “And, of course, the Chinese don’t want to assist us with this.”
Ernst told CBS News that it is “very disconcerting” to see China — arguably the U.S.’s number one adversary — poisoning Americans. Ernst, who said the American people need to be educated, called for the U.S. government to work with their Mexican counterparts to push back against the Chinese and the Mexican drug cartels.
“We can’t continue to lose our youth to this fentanyl epidemic. It is extremely important that we push back,” Ernst said.
Pushing back is not enough @SenJoniErnst. Remove China from all US critical infrastructure, including health care (drug production), education, energy, & IT. They are using greed & wrath (political) against us. We need unity to protect our democracy. https://t.co/DUwbFmCSWq
— Terry McGovern (@TMac4Iowa) February 11, 2023
Ernst is also calling for harsher punishment for the drug suppliers and more resources to help Border Patrol agents in their fight to stop fentanyl.
According to CBS News, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington labeled Ernst’s claims false while adding that the U.S. needs to face up to its own problems instead of blaming others.
Last year, The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) called on the Chinese government to crack down on the supply chain networks after the U.S. government identified China as the leading supplier of precursor chemicals, many of which end up in Mexico.
DEA administrator Anne Milgram told CBS News that she would like China to do more in tracking every shipment of chemicals coming from Chinese chemical companies and into Mexico.
“There’s a relationship between these Chinese chemical companies and the criminal cartels in Mexico,” she said.
