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Joe Biden recently came under fire after a video of him chuckling while speaking about the fentanyl overdose crisis in the U.S. went viral online. The President was responding to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who blamed him for the 2020 fentanyl poisoning death of Rebecca Kiessling’s sons.
On Tuesday, February 28, Kiessling testified to the House Homeland Security Committee and urged authorities to take the necessary steps to stop importing fentanyl. She also dubbed the death of her sons as “murder” instead of an overdose.
During the Southern Border Crisis hearing, Rep. Greene responded to Kiessling’s plea and blamed Joe Biden's administration for failing to prevent the inflow of illegal drugs in the U.S. She said:
“This government has failed you, and it's failing American families, and it's failing, most of all, it's failing our children and our young people."
The Republican also took to Twitter to speak about the death of Kiessling’s son and said that they were murdered “because of the Biden administration’s refusal to secure our border”:
President Joe Biden addressed the situation during the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, on Wednesday and mocked Greene, saying:
“A little bit of more of Marjorie Taylor Greene and a few more, you’re gonna have a lot of Republicans running our way. Isn’t she amazing? Whew!”
He further noted that Greene specifically mentioned that Biden killed Kiessling’s sons. However, the President pointed out that the fentanyl the boys consumed came during Trump’s administration before letting out a chuckle:
“I was the reason, she was very specific, I shouldn’t digress probably. I’ve read she was very specific recently saying that a mom, a poor mother who lost two kids to fentanyl, that I killed her sons. Well, the interesting thing is that the fentanyl they took came during the last administration.”
While Joe Biden did laugh at the end of his speech, his chuckle was possibly directed towards Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s allegations. However, several social media users called out the President for the seemingly tone-deaf gesture.
What is known about Rebecca Kiessling?
Rebecca Kiessling is a mother from Michigan who lost her two sons, 20-year-old Caleb and 18-year-old Kyler, to fentanyl poisoning in 2020. She is an attorney and activist based in Rochester Hills.
On July 29, 2020, Kiessling’s sons and their friend were found dead in an Auburn Hills hotel room. Reports suggest the boys took prescribed Percocet pills, which turned out to be fake and laced with fentanyl instead.
Kiessling testified to the House Homeland Security Committee and urged lawmakers to increase security at the southern border to stop the import of fentanyl drugs.
She said her sons’ deaths were not overdose but “murder”:
“I don't use the term ‘drug overdose’ because this was not an overdose. This was murder. My children got fake Percocets.”
Kiessling said that law enforcement officials made it clear that fentanyl on the pills came from Mexico and urged authorities to stop the inflow of the drugs:
“Law enforcement made it clear to me that this fentanyl came from Mexico… You talk about children being taken away from their parents- my children were taken away from me.”
The woman also noted the increasing number of fentanyl poisoning-related deaths in America and said:
“We have a weather balloon from China going across our country - nobody died but everybody's freaking out about it. But 100,000 die every year and nothing is being done - not enough is being done - numbers are going up, not down.”
She continued to ask lawmakers to take action against the situation during the emotional testimony:
“I didn't know that people were dying - I didn't know that my boys were taking anything that could kill them - they didn't think that they were either. This is a war. Act like it. Do something.”
Kiessling spoke to Fox 2 Detroit after the hearing and said that if her story fails to move Congress to take the necessary action, she will hope it will at least help in raising awareness:
“Hopefully it will raise awareness for people to demand something be done at the border and for people to have talks with their kids. I mean I had talks with my kids but I didn't know about fentanyl, I didn't know about Narcan.”
According to the Centers for Disease Care and Control, countries such as Mexico and China have been blamed as the alleged reason behind the inflow of fentanyl in America.
Twitter reacts to Joe Biden laughing while fentanyl overdose discussion
A video of Joe Biden laughing at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s accusations over the 2020 fentanyl poisoning deaths of Rebecca Kiessling’s two sons recently surfaced on social media.
As the clip went viral online, several social media users took to Twitter to call out the President for chuckling while discussing a sensitive topic.
Meanwhile, some came to Joe Biden's defense, saying he laughed at Greene's allegations and not at Kiessling for losing her sons:
While reactions continue to pour in online, it remains to be seen if President Joe Biden will respond to the backlash in the days to come.
