M.D. Kittle writes for the Federalist about a key element of the Republican National Convention’s messaging.
[T]he real stars of Tuesday’s lineup were the average Americans who shared their stories of loss and pain under Democrat President Joe Biden and his leftist policies. And none has proved as deadly as the administration’s open-border policies that have led to millions of illegal immigrants pouring into the United States on Biden’s watch. Some are carrying with them lethal drugs, particularly the poison that is fentanyl. The synthetic opioid has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans during Biden’s tenure. The U.S. posted a record 112,000 drug overdoses in fiscal year 2023 alone, the brunt of those fentanyl-related, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a House Budget Committee Report.
Anne Fundner’s firstborn son, Weston, is among the tragic numbers. Weston was a bright and big-hearted 15-year-old, a loving big brother who enjoyed making people laugh, Fundner told attendees at Tuesday’s packed Republican National Convention in downtown Milwaukee. Succumbing to peer pressure and a teen’s desire to fit in, Weston tried something laced with fentanyl, his mother said, her voice breaking in the retelling of that life-shattering day in February 2022.
“Our baby was gone,” Fundner said, choking back tears. “This was not an overdose, it was a poisoning.”
“His whole future, everything we ever wanted for him was ripped away in an instant,” the grieving wife and mother of four added. “And Joe Biden does nothing. I hold Joe Biden, Kamala Harris — the border czar. What a joke! — and [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom and every Democrat who supports open borders responsible for the death of my son.”
The hall erupted in applause in one of the most poignant moments from the four-day convention thus far, as Trump and his newly named running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, joined in a standing ovation.