Marjorie Taylor Greene announces absurd declaration of war against Mexican cartels

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wants to declare war — but not on any country.

The Republican congresswoman said Thursday she was “drafting a declaration of war against the Mexican cartels,” even though the last formal declaration of war by Congress was during World War II and the Constitution only allows declarations of war against real nations.

Greene took her ill-informed strategy to Charlie Kirk, the far-right founder of the conservative student group Turning Point USA. She said on her podcast that she “would like Washington to realize who our real enemy is.”

“Who is responsible for the deaths of 300 Americans every day from fentanyl, who is responsible for a multi-billion dollar human trafficking and drug trafficking industry that directly affects the United States of America ” Greene said. “It’s the Mexican cartels.”

She added: “So I am writing a declaration of war against the Mexican cartels. »

Greene said she was not targeting the Mexican government or people before calling the recent influx of migrants — many of them asylum seekers — an “invasion.” She then declared: “Our country is under attack. »

His confusion between cartel members and migrants caused strong negative reactions on social media. It’s also inaccurate: Almost all illicit fentanyl seized at the border is smuggled either by U.S. citizens or others authorized to enter the United States, NPR reported last month.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency noted that China produced the raw materials needed for Mexico’s production of fentanyl.

“China remains the primary source of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked through international mail and…the primary source of all fentanyl-related substances trafficked into the United States,” according to a 2020 DEA intelligence report.

President Joe Biden has cracked down on fentanyl trafficking. In April, the United States sanctioned two Chinese companies and charged 28 Mexican cartel members – including the sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán – for their alleged roles.

Biden also deployed 800 additional troops on Wednesday to help with border security efforts.

But Greene, who had previously spoken at white nationalist conferences and spread dangerous conspiracy theories, then blamed the U.S. government itself for “the invasion that is happening on our border.” She criticized the Biden administration for funding Ukraine’s war against the Russian invasion while “ignoring” the US border.

Kirk, who previously claimed the 2020 presidential election was stolen and made a number of racist comments, echoed Greene’s war drums against Mexico with xenophobic dog whistles.

The host warned that Americans “don’t know who these people are” and mentioned that migrants crossing the border “aren’t subject to DNA testing” or “background checks” — and are “running straight in America to invade the country.

Greene’s puzzling idea to formally declare war on the cartels proved unpopular on social media.

“A congressman can’t declare war, you idiot,” one user wrote on X, the former platform known as Twitter, while another simply said: “Please Please, for the love of God, look at how the war on terror is going. and realize what a bad idea it is.