Rick Harrison, the lead of The History Channel’s popular reality series “Pawn Stars,” slammed how President Joe Biden’s handling the border crisis after losing his son to a fentanyl overdose.
His son, Adam, 39, who did not appear on television with his father, succumbed to the drug last month.
In an interview with Fox News, Harrison castigated current politicians as “complicit” for their role in the widespread fentanyl-related fatalities across the country.
Harrison shared his frustration about the accessibility and affordability of fentanyl, citing the low cost of $5 per pill, which he believes contributed to the country’s drug crisis.
Rick Harrison of "Pawn Stars" slams current border policies after son's fentanyl death.#2024Election #BorderCrisis #BorderInvasion #NationInDistress #thursdayvibes
Credit: @FoxNewsDigital pic.twitter.com/yf6cUYCBRn— Jesse From NJ (@whiteneck81) February 8, 2024
His suggestion was to make it more challenging to obtain the drugs by cutting off their source.
“Let’s start arresting the people selling it, arresting the people bringing it over the border,” he proposed.
“Close down the border, make it really expensive. Let’s make a fentanyl death rare.”
Harrison decried the “insane” inaction of politicians concerning the rampant illegal drug influx.
“They’re literally letting it happen,” he pointed out. “They’re not doing anything about it. So they’re complicit in all these deaths.”
He drew a stark analogy, noting that the nationwide death toll of fentanyl overdoses daily was equivalent to the amount of people that would die if a passenger plane crashed.
“That’s how many people die from it,” he stated. “And, you know, the politicians don’t want to talk about it. The news doesn’t want to talk about it.”
He blamed politicians for willingly letting the drug traverse across the border, which he accused the Biden administration of failing to protect.
“Literally, we have a government that’s suing the state saying, ‘No, you can’t block tons of people coming into this country,’” Harrison remarked.
“We don’t know what they’re carrying on them. And we don’t know what kind of people they are. It’s insanity. I mean, we just need common sense.”
On of Harrison’s “common sense” approaches would be to harshly punish the drug dealers peddling fentanyl.
“Just selling the stuff should be attempted murder. I mean, it’s that bad and nothing’s being done about it,” he said.
He believes that if former President Donald Trump was in power, the drug wouldn’t be an issue.
“He’s an incredible individual. He wanted to do something about this,” Harrison said about Trump.
He observed that several U.S. cities were “turning into third-world countries because of this drug.”
The reality star also took a dig at liberal policies, like Oregon’s decriminalization of fentanyl possession, which he likened to a mere slap on the wrist.
Harrison mentioned that a primary measure in combatting the crisis would be to “shut down the border” and reverse “no bail” policies, advocating for more strict consequences for those involved in the fentanyl trade.
The “Pawn Stars” lead also expressed his exasperation with the federal funding directed to Ukraine, noting that the resources could have been better spent addressing national issues.
“I think there was one figure — we could have gave every homeless veteran $1 million for the money we’re spending over there,” he commented.
“I mean, think about that. We’re doing nothing for homeless veterans, but we’re giving credit cards to illegal aliens, housing them for free and sending all this money to Ukraine,” Harrison concluded.
Country music artist Jelly Roll, who recently testified to congress about the issue, said he’s concerned about the adverse affects fentanyl will have on the “next generation.”
Jelly Roll gave a very POWERFUL Testimony to Congress today:
"I've attended more funerals than I care to share with y'all. I was a part of the problem. I am here now standing as a man that wants to be a part of the solution."
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) January 12, 2024
Born Jason Bradley DeFord, the singer told People magazine that no illicit substance the nation has ever experienced, compared to the lethal potential of fentanyl, which “is so deadly in such small amounts that’s being mixed in so many different things.”
“My daughter will never experience the safety of experimenting with drugs,” he remarked.
“I know that sounds crazy to say, but when I was a kid, my mother would be like, ‘You’re going to try everything once. Just be safe.’ It’s not safe for any kid to be doing anything.”
“How many more people does [fentanyl] have to kill a day before we start to care, if the number right now is close to 200,” the singer, who’s real name is Jason DeFord, told the outlet.
“I just think it’s time to speak about it. It scares me for my daughter. It scares me for my son. It scares me for this next generation. We’ve never seen nothing like fentanyl.”