As fentanyl and illegal immigration continue to flood across the southern border, Republican candidates for President – Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and former President Donald Trump (R) – have shared their plans to combat the cartels that facilitate the atrocities stemming from Mexico.
Gov. DeSantis was the candidate to “declare war” against the cartels, stating that he would use military force against them.
In May, Floridian publisher Javier Manjarrés asked Gov. DeSantis if he would support building the wall and using military force to take the fight to the drug cartels themselves.
DeSantis answered, “Yes, and yes," and appears to know parrot Manjarres' by addressing the the question using the same verbiage asked in the original question posed to him.
"I've always supported the wall because it's such a big border, you can have border protection, you can never be able to have enough," said Gov. DeSantis. "Cartels will direct people where there's surveillance, so you have to have that. I think it's important."
DeSantis also said that he is willing to send "our Florida guys down to the border and get them building the wall, and they will do it very quickly."
Moreover, DeSantis said, “We also have to understand these cartels are running the show. I mean, they run the government, basically, down there, it’s totally corrupt. But they’re running people into our country, and they are running massive amounts of fentanyl into our country. It’s killing tens of thousands of Americans. It’s killing people in Florida communities.”
Additionally, in an interview with Megyn Kelly, President Trump did “not commit to sending troops to Mexico or reveal specific plans” as The Hill reported but stated that “something has to be done.”
At the beginning of the year, the Trump campaign said that the former President would use “special forces, cyber warfare, and other overt and covert actions” to address the cartels, as well as designate the cartels as foreign terrorist groups.
President Trump stated in the Kelly interview that “Mexico is petrified of the cartels,” and that “The cartels are running Mexico.”
He also said, “Mexico is sending their troops into our country in the form of illegal aliens that are killing people, in many cases, that are causing lots of disease and lots of problems.”
Despite Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's warning against foreign cartel intervention earlier in the year, it appears the two top Republican candidates do not seem to care.
