Karine Jean-Pierre alleges House Republicans of ‘fighting to put fentanyl on the street’

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was accused of spewing “blatant lies” on Tuesday after she alleged House Republicans are “fighting to put fentanyl on the street.”

The Biden administration spokeswoman made the head-scratching remark during the White House press briefing as she commented on the spending cuts in House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling proposal, which he unveiled last week. 

“It’s clear that the speaker’s bill breaks House Republicans’ commitment to America,” Jean-Pierre claimed. 

“In the run-up to the 2022 election, House Republicans promised to put cops on the beat. Instead, they are fighting to put fentanyl on the street by defunding border patrol,” she alleged. 

“Their proposal makes clear the only things House Republicans are committed to giving Americans are increased crime, lower economic growth, and more manufacturing jobs sent back to China,” Jean-Pierre said. 

Her remarks were roundly criticized on Twitter.

The conservative Heritage Foundation think tank tweeted on Tuesday that the White House “must be counting on the media to shill for their blatant lies.” 

“Important to note that these lies are admissions they recognize these serious problems, but instead of solving them, they’ll blame shift to avoid responsibility while working to worsen them,” the post from the organization’s Twitter account read. 

Heritage went on to note President Biden’s recent omnibus bill restricted Customs and Border Protection funding to “processing only” and accused Democrats of “allowing fentanyl to flood the streets by refusing literally any solutions that would reduce illegal border crossings.”

“Every word out of KJP’s mouth is not only a complete and utter lie, but it’s the man she works for and the party he represents who are guilty of each accusation,” the influential think tank’s scathing tweet concluded.

Madeline Huffman, communications director for Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), derided Jean-Pierre’s characterization of McCarthy’s debt ceiling proposal as “insane gaslighting.”

“Especially on the issue of crime, as Joe Biden has promised to veto [Clyde’s] resolution to repeal the D.C. Council’s anti-police law that will only worsen the crime crisis plaguing our nation’s capital,” she added in a tweet.

The Twitter account run by Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee countered Jean-Pierre’s accusations by noting that GOP lawmakers recently put forward legislation to help combat the fentanyl epidemic by hiring more Border Patrol agents. 

“Actually, Republicans put forward the Border Reinforcement Act this week to help hire 3k more Border Patrol agents and give CBP the tools they need to combat the fentanyl epidemic caused by the open-border policies of [Jean Pierre’s] boss,” Homeland Security Committee Republicans tweeted. 

McCarthy’s proposal would allow the federal government to borrow another $1.5 trillion until March 31, 2024, in exchange for discretionary spending cuts for non-defense programs. 

The House Speaker’s proposal would limit the growth of future expenditures to 1% per year for the next decade.

“These spending limits are not draconian; they’re responsible,” McCarthy said in remarks on the House floor last week.