EXCLUSIVE — A Republican candidate in Kentucky’s gubernatorial race blasted President Joe Biden and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear for not taking adequate actions to quell the drug epidemic plaguing U.S. communities and vowed to secure the state’s borders from drug smugglers.
Kelly Craft, the former Trump-era U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, released a campaign ad as part of a six-figure TV ad buy across the state Monday that blasts the two officials for not doing enough to acknowledge and respond to the illegal, dangerous narcotics that Mexican cartels are smuggling into the United States.
“Joe Biden and Andy Beshear are ignoring the border crisis, but it’s not just down here,” Craft said in the video while walking along the border wall at the U.S.-Mexico boundary before shifting to a scene shot in Kentucky. “Right here in Kentucky, we have our own border crisis. Criminal and illegal drugs are flooding into our state, ravaging our communities.”
“We may not be able to build a wall like this around Kentucky, but my top priorities as governor will secure our state’s borders, back up our police, and if you’re a drug dealer, I’m coming for you,” Craft finished.
MAYORKAS SCOLDED BORDER PATROL IN ‘WHIPPING’ INCIDENT AFTER LEARNING AGENT DID NOT HAVE A WHIP
Fentanyl is a man-made opiate that can be up to 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin. Three grains of pure fentanyl can put a person in a coma. It is frequently used as a filler in other counterfeit drugs, killing users who believed they were taking a Xanax or Percocet.
Seizures of the drug have ballooned over the past decade. U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized a record-high 14,700 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal 2022, which ended last September, according to publicly available data on its website. Seizures are on track to blow past last year’s record before the halfway mark of fiscal 2023. As seizures rose, so did the number of fentanyl-caused deaths within the U.S., an indication that plenty more fentanyl got past federal law enforcement at the nation’s borders.
Craft is one of a dozen Republicans who have declared ahead of the November election, including Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
Although Beshear has a high approval rate, the Republican Party views the Bluegrass State as a possible pick-up seat.
Prior to her U.N. ambassadorship, Craft was U.S. ambassador to Canada, where she was heavily involved in negotiating a new free trade agreement between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. She was also credited for helping negotiate diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in 2020.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
She declared her run for governor last September. She is married to Joe Craft, a billionaire coal-mining executive.
Beshear’s office and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.
