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Editor’s Note: An original version of this story incorrectly stated that the Biden administration was considering a plan to provide “crack pipes” to inner cities as part of a “racial equity” plan. A fact check from Snopes said that “News reports in February 2022 grossly misrepresented the facts about a federal harm reduction program.” The outlet added: “After a wave of grossly misleading news coverage in February 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stipulated that federal funding would not be used to include pipes in safe smoking kits, as part of a substance abuse harm reduction grant program. This newly-stipulated detail was not originally available, meaning the assertions made in a first wave of coverage had become outdated.” We regret the error and have corrected our reporting.
Louisiana GOP Sen. John Kennedy blistered Joe Biden on Tuesday amid reports that his administration is considering a controversial “racial equity” plan.
During an interview on “America’s Newsroom,” Kennedy was asked about the White House’s $30 million plan to distribute “smoking kits” that reportedly contain pipes for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and “any illicit substance.”
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
PERINO: “Senator, as you said, it’s a complex issue. And I don’t have a loved one in my life that has one of these addictions, and the ‘Just Say No’ campaign and the fried egg as your brain really worked on me. And I wonder, though, if we look at this and Health and Human Services says they have the harm reduction plan, these are the details: they want to expand the use of fentanyl testing strips, comprehensive HIV services in a syringe program — maybe that really helps — widen access to opioid overdose reversal treatments and a ‘Stop Overdose’ campaign, which I guess is a public service announcement. But we just had a story that said 100,000 people died of overdoses last year. And I understand if you are on the street, that’s one thing, but we also talked to a lot of people where this fentanyl is coming across the border from China to Mexico into the United States, and we had one couple who lost their son, on the first experiment he was killed. And these injection sites, one, they are a huge problem for the neighborhood, but it doesn’t do anything to address that problem of the fentanyl coming across the border, sir.”
KENNEDY: “No, it doesn’t. And look, I’ve passed bills dealing with opioid abuse, and we’re all concerned about the addiction problem. But you want to hit the addiction problem in America with a hard lick? Seal the border. Right now President Biden’s policy is this: If you are a Nigerian doctor or a German machinist who wants to come to America, you have to be vetted for years. But if you are some gang-banger drug dealer who just hops the fence at the border, you are welcome and we’ll fly you anywhere you want in America. Now that is just bone-deep-down-to-the-marrow stupid. I’m all for helping people with drug addiction, but the way to deal with it, number one, is just to secure the border. Will it completely solve the problem?
No, but it will do a lot more than safe crack pipes. And can I make one more point? This is part of the problem. President Biden talks about — all the time about he cares about the little guy or the little gal. But he just doesn’t seem to worry that much about ordinary Americans unless they are part of some minority group that he deems worthy, in this case, crack addicts and crack dealers and meth addicts and meth dealers. He has no sense of priority about what the American people are worried about when they lie down at night to sleep and they can’t.”
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