A hyperbolic claim based on zero facts J.D. Vance, the GOP nominee in this year's Senate race, made a startling observation: He suggested that Biden was intentionally allowing drugs such as fentanyl to flood the United States with the intention of trying to kill supporters of former president Donald Trump in the "heartland" of the country. That's extreme even by today's standards of political rhetoric. We dug into the data to see whether there is even a basis for his claim that Biden has allowed the flow of drugs and deaths to increase. We found that 7,267 pounds of fentanyl were seized in 2020, the last year of the Trump administration. Meanwhile, 10,753 pounds were seized in 2021, the first year of the Biden administration. That's an increase of almost 50 percent in just one year. More seizures could mean Border Patrol is doing a better job. Or they could mean more drugs are flowing into the country. During Trump's four years, however, seizures of fentanyl increased 592 percent. As for drug overdoses, about 70 percent of which result from opioids such as fentanyl, they increased sharply during the Trump years — in particular, after the start of the coronavirus pandemic. In Biden's first year, an estimated 107,622 people died of overdoses in the 12 months ending in December. That's an increase of 15 percent, but that's half the rate of increase than in Trump's last year in office. So there's little to indicate that Biden's policies are causing a spike in overdose deaths. (As for Trump voters being supposedly targeted, people of color die at a higher rate from opioids than Whites.) Vance earned Four Pinocchios. Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here. Did you hear something fact-checkable? Send it here; we'll check it out. The hyperbolic formula shortage claim that's based on zero fact Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) sparked a furor Thursday when she posted photos that compared what she said were stockpiles of baby formula for undocumented immigrants with empty grocery shelves for Americans in local stores. She was quickly joined by other Republicans, such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. "This is yet another one in a long line of reckless, out-of-touch priorities from the Biden administration," he declared. Cammack said she was not blaming the babies — "it is not the children's fault at all" — but she and Abbott blasted the Biden administration for allowing this happen. The problem is that the Biden administration is following the law — a law that President Donald Trump also followed (though he wasn't happy about it). At issue is something called the Flores consent decree, which began as a class-action lawsuit regarding the treatment of migrant children. The Justice Department negotiated a settlement in 1997 during President Bill Clinton's administration. That agreement required the government to provide "drinking water and food as appropriate." Customs and Border Protection standards, developed in response to Flores, state: "Food must be appropriate for at-risk detainees' age and capabilities (such as formula and baby food)." Trump tried to get rid of Flores but was blocked by the courts. So he followed the law, too. "We also observed all Border Patrol stations had food, snacks, juice, and infant formula available for children," said a 2020 Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report on how the administration struggled to manage the 2019 migrant surge. Anyone who suggested supplying baby formula to undocumented immigrants is the result of specific Biden policies, i.e., his "reckless, out-of-touch priorities," earned Four Pinocchios. We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP and @AdriUsero) or Facebook. Read about our process and rating scale here, and sign up for the newsletter here. Scroll down for this week's Pinocchio roundup. | 
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