Newsom’s Post
California Governor Gavin Newsom posted a video of himself with the border wall at Tijuana in the background. The caption above the video commented on the progress his state has made in making the border secure.
Source: Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons
“California has doubled our National Guard at the border that are working to stop the flow of fentanyl. While the GOP play games and Mike Johnson searches for his spine — we’re out here doing the work,” Newsom wrote.
Doubling the National Guard
At first glance, doubling the National Guard at the border sounds like an impressive figure. However, the actual number of agents might be smaller than one would assume upon hearing that fact.
Source: The National Guard/Wikimedia
The governor’s office announced Thursday that California’s National Guard County Drug Task Force members have increased from 155 to almost 400.
Top Priority is Safety
In the announcement, Newsom confirmed his commitment to holding drug smugglers accountable which he views as bringing danger to California.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
“Our top priority is the safety of our communities statewide. By working with state, local, and federal partners to take down transnational organizations and the illegal drugs they attempt to bring into our state, the state’s Counter Drug Taskforce is making a profound difference to hold smugglers accountable and take deadly drugs off our streets,” Newsom said.
Low Numbers
In his video post, Newsom mentioned “390 National Guard men and women” are working to help address the problem with fentanyl, something that critics of his post seized on.
Source: Jonathan McIntosh/Wikimedia
“California has 24,000 National Guard Troops. Newsom has 390 of them at the border. 390. It’s almost unnerving how easily Newsom lies,” said X user Jeff Carlson.
Gaslighting
A comment that got over 19,000 likes, which ironically is over double what Newsom’s post got, accused the California governor of gaslighting Americans.
Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Wikimedia
“Are you seriously trying to act like you care about the border invasion?! After you’ve helped let in 8 million+?! Insane gaslighting,” the post said.
Doubled Gaslighting
One user sought to work in a joke about the governor’s mention of the word “doubled.”
Source: Bureau of Reclamation/Wikimedia Commons
“The only thing that has doubled is your gaslighting,” said X user Mark Fabela, including a photoshopped picture of Newsom looking like the character Butt-head from the animated series “Beavis and Butt-head” in his post.
Biden Blamed
Other commenters sought to tie Newsom’s inability to solve border issues with the actions of Joe Biden and other Democrats.
The White House/Wikimedia Commons
“You have got to be F*CKING KIDDING ME. The border is open because of you Biden democrats. You want help processing the invasion, not stopping it. As long as there is an invasion there will be record amounts of fentanyl pouring across and you Biden democrats are to blame for the over 100,000 Americans that die every year of Biden’s presidency due to fentanyl,” said X user Philip Anderson.
Fentanyl Success
Although many critics of Newsom belittled the governor and California for its efforts at the border, the state has had some recent success in stopping Fentanyl.
Source: Public Domain/Wikimedia
Between January and April, CalGuard seized more than 5.8 million fentanyl pills through its operations. 2.3 million of these fentanyl pills were seized in the month of April alone.
US Fentanyl Epidemic
Overdose deaths in the United States have been skyrocketing in recent years. According to CDC data, synthetic opioids were responsible for the most overdose deaths in 2022.
Source: Diana Polekhina/Unsplash
Since 2012, the number of overdose deaths per year has more than doubled. The number has gone from 40,000 per year to over 90,000 per year in 2020.
Fentanyl Mostly Brought By Citizens
Although many people associate border criminality with immigration and illegal residents, the announcement from Newsom’s office asserted that the majority of fentanyl smuggled in the United States is done by US citizens.
Source: Alexander Grey/Unsplash
This assertion is congruent with data from the US Sentencing Commission that found that 88 percent of fentanyl traffickers in 2022 were “domestic” American citizens.
Ignoring Fentanyl
While Newsom and the government have recently made strides in addressing drug smuggling at the border, some accused the governor and Democrats of ignoring the problem for too long.
Source: Government of California/Wikimedia
“Remember when everyone on the other side has been talking about fentanyl for years…. and you ignored it. I had a friend who worked as an ER nurse in the height of COVID 2020 and said they had more fentanyl overdoses than COVID cases,” said X user Jeremiah Bonds.