Florida has had a growing Fentanyl crisis that lawmakers have quickly tried to address. Early this year, Florida Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R) introduced the FIGHT Fentanyl Act, which aimed to permanently ban fentanyl. Subsequently, Florida Rep. Stephany Murphy (D) slammed China, arguing that “Chinese companies are sending precursor chemicals to countries like Mexico, where they are made into fentanyl before coming to the U.S., where they kill Americans.” Now, Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) is adding on to the national conversation, contending that the Chinese Communist Party is “killing Americans, and it’s intentional.”
Since last year, the former governor of Florida has argued that the United States is involved in a “New Cold War” with the Communist Party of China. In a recent interview with Newsmax, the Senator was asked if COVID-19 and imported fentanyl could be considered a declaration of war against Americans, and Scott responded that “whether it’s a war or not, they’re clearly killing Americans, and it’s intentional.” “They’re not cracking down on this,” he added before shifting gears and discussing the political implications that the Communist Party of China has on America.
“Every time an American buys a product made in Communist China, just remember what they’re doing,” he expressed, adding that “they’re helping the government of Communist China sell fentanyl in this country.”
Murphy, who is now facing a congressional challenger in Florida Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R), has accused China of showing a “lack of transparency” and a “lack of cooperation.” In turn, Murphy has called for China to provide more information concerning their production of fentanyl.
“We’re clearly going to ultimately sanction China,” Scott estimated last year in May, sharing that the United States is “not going to let them sell things on our exchanges” because “they’re clearly an adversary.”
“We’ve got to fight against an adversary and it’s called the Communist Party of China.”