The United States must "crush" the cartels in Mexico to save American lives, Sen. Tim Scott, a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, said on Newsmax Saturday.
"We have to freeze their assets, sanction their accounts, and use the full force of the American government to stop them from killing another 70,00 Americans," the South Carolina Republican said in an interview on Newsmax's "America Right Now." "I would restore Title 42 — not for COVID ... but because fentanyl is the current health care crisis our nation is facing."
Scott added that the United States needs to spend the $10 billion it would take to extend a border wall completely across the nation's southern border to stem the tide of the 6 million illegal crossings that have taken place with President Joe Biden in office.
He further called to restore the Remain in Mexico asylum policy, noting that the "right asylum policy will stem the tide at the nation's border."
"Let's take the sign down that says 'America's open,'" Scott said. "Come through the front door or don't come at all, bottom line."
But when asked if he would agree to use military force to battle the Mexican cartels, Scott said that if elected, his administration would "work with the Mexican government in the hopes of getting the job done in a collaborative effort."
"We were able to bring in El Chapo and [with] the same process, we can work with the Mexican government. But either way, the Mexican cartels must end their activities, killing 70,000 American people. With or without the Mexican government, we must get this done."
Meanwhile, Scott is trailing behind former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the polls. But he told Newsmax's Tom Basile that he believes his optimistic, positive message and his message of "conservatism spoken with a backbone" is increasing his poll numbers quickly.
"The people that I'm running into in Iowa and New Hampshire and, of course, here in South Carolina are starving for an optimistic, positive message," said Scott. "As long as they know that you have the will to fight to defend the values of this nation, it's not [about] the strength of President Xi [Jinping] in China; it's the weakness of President [Joe] Biden here, a weak American president. It's terrible for our country and bad for the world. I will restore confidence and trust in the American system of government by restoring strength and integrity to our commander in chief."
He added that as he grew up in a single-parent household, mired in poverty, many of his friends were either shot or died in the drug trade.
"You have to be tough to get out of a situation like that," Scott said. "Toughness is not a question."
The real question is being tough enough, he said.
"If we do not have the power of persuasion, the American values that we are trying to protect as a great opportunity party, we will lose," said Scott. "Without having someone with the power of persuasion to persuade the independents to join the Republican movement, we have no hope of winning the next election. I am the candidate that does that. I'm also the candidate whose life disproves the lies of the radical left."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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