Democrat House candidate persists in stance on fentanyl after dismissing it as a border issue

Democratic congressional candidate Monica Tranel appears to be changing her stance on the fentanyl crisis this time around, after previously suggesting that the deadly drug did not originate in the southern border region.

Tranel, the Democratic candidate running in Montana’s 1st Congressional District against incumbent Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, recently released a campaign ad taking a tough stance on the border.

However, during her first campaign for Congress in 2022, Tranel claimed that the border crisis has nothing to do with the fentanyl trade during a debate with Zinke at the City Club Missoula.

“It’s a significant issue where we are, but where it’s coming from is not the southern border,” Tranel said of fentanyl during the debate. “It’s made in China, and how it gets here is a complex series of things that are happening, and closing the border is not going to alleviate the fentanyl crisis.”

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Democratic candidate Monica Tranel is running for Congress against Representative Ryan Zinke. (Willem Campbell)

Shortly after Tranel’s remarks during the debate, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that 36 million lethal doses of fentanyl had been removed from U.S. communities between May and September 2022, 35 of which were directly linked to Mexican cartels.

Now that she’s running for the Republican seat again in 2024, Tranel appears to be changing her stance on the issue.

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“We have a real crisis at the border,” Tranel said in a new campaign ad that ran on X in September. “We need to secure the border, hire more Border Patrol agents, and take on the drug cartels to stop the flow of illegal drugs like fentanyl.”

Michael Humphries, port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, presents photos of seized fentanyl, guns and other illegal drugs during an interview at the Port of Nogales-Mariposa in Nogales, Arizona, on Feb. 28, 2023. (Kitra Cahana)

“Trainwreck Tranel is taking a hard line on the border in an election year, but Montanans know she will work directly under the Harris-Walz banner to inflict more crime and border chaos on Montanans while supporting boys’ participation in girls’ sports,” Montana GOP spokesperson Madison Atkinson told Fox News Digital in a statement.

In fiscal year 2023 alone, Border Patrol officials reported seizing enough fentanyl to kill the entire U.S. population.

When asked about the earlier comment about fentanyl, Tranel told Fox News Digital that “we need to secure our borders and solve the fentanyl crisis.”

Tranel is running against Rep. Ryan Zinke, the incumbent Republican representative seeking re-election in Montana’s 1st Congressional District. (Al Drago)

“We need to increase resources for border patrol and take on the cartels that are trafficking fentanyl, both in China and at the border,” she told Fox. “The Border Act would increase resources for tracking and stopping fentanyl. I support that bill and would have voted for it. Stopping the supply of fentanyl is critical, and stopping it from coming across the border is also critical. As a member of Congress, I would have voted for it to get that done. Ryan Zinke could have voted for that bill, but he didn’t, to play games and campaign on the problem instead of solving it.”

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“The border is not secure and no one — including Rep. Zinke — has done the job of fixing it,” Tranel said. “I will stand up to any Democrat or Republican who stands in my way. While Zinke caters to special interests and China, I am focused on protecting our communities and stopping the flow of illegal drugs. Keeping Montana safe is more important than politics.”