Steve Scalise Blames Opioid Crisis — That’s Existed for Five Years — on ‘Biden’s Border Crisis’ of Past 10 Months

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) appeared to parade his ignorance on the opioid crisis that afflicts the United States when he blamed it on President Joe Biden’s border policy, unaware that the opioid crisis largely spiked under the leadership of former President Donald Trump.

HouseGOP’s Twitter account shared a video of Scalise’s comments that included the Republican House Minority Whip saying “The opioid crisis is a direct result of President Biden’s open borders. The border crisis has led to many other crises, but especially when we see this infusion of drugs coming across our southern border.”

Scalise may have forgotten that Biden was only elected to office in November and moved into the White House on January 20th. The most significant incline of opioid use — in particular synthetic opioids like fentanyl for example — spiked during the Trump administration.

Don’t take my word for it, check out the following graphic from the CDC:

It is true that there has been a spike of illegal migrant crossing as the US Southern border under the Biden administration, which continues the sharp rise that largely started during the Trump administration. And a lot of illegal fentanyl has been confiscated.

But to seriously suggest that the US Opioid Crisis is a problem of Biden’s making? That’s just either ignorant or willfully misleading.

Watch above via HouseGOP.

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