Politics
‘Pawn Stars’ Creator Rick Harrison Praises Trump For Border Crackdown After Son’s Overdose Death
“Pawn Stars” creator Rick Harrison is praising the Trump Administration for bringing illegal border crossings down by 95 percent and closing drug corridors after losing his son, Adam, to a fentanyl overdose a little over a year ago.
Immediately after being sworn in, Trump signed a number of executive orders aimed at reversing the effectively open border policy of his predecessor. Among the moves taken by Trump were the reinstitution of the Remain in Mexico policy, the shuttering of the “CBP One” app that allowed illegal aliens to schedule their own entry into the United States and ending the Biden Administration’s “catch and release” policies.
He also designated foreign drug cartels as terrorist organizations, which gives prosecutors increased ability to target the cartels and their funding, and slapped tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada that will only be removed in full if each country does their part to halt the fentanyl crisis.
Harrison, whose son, Adam, died due to “fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity,” in January, 2024, praised the Trump Administration for the massive border security effort in a statement to Fox News.
“Closing the border was absolutely amazing,” Harrison told the outlet. “That’s where … that’s where it’s all coming from.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the California Department of Public Health. It is often cut with other drugs by dealers in order to make them cheaper.
Harrison (right) with his late son, Adam
Harrison also called for penalties for fentanyl traffickers and dealers to be massively increased. “I want anyone selling fentanyl to go to jail for the rest of their life,” Harrison said. “They’re selling poison. They’re killing people. I think it’s every 11 minutes someone dies from fentanyl in this country.”
He added, “It’s just horrific, and something has to be done about it. If you make the punishment for selling it so bad, it’ll probably still be out there to some degree, but a lot of it’ll go away. Close up the borders, you know, really start cracking down on these countries that are letting people manufacture it there.”
After his son’s death, Harrison recalled President Trump calling to offer his condolences. “I was kind of a train wreck at the time. I’ll be completely honest,” Harrison said. “I don’t remember the conversation that well. I mean, I was really bad for a week.
The reality star recalled Trump telling him that his administration was going to “do what we can” to stop the fentanyl crisis.
“I believed him – just look at the border now,” Harrison said. “Border crossings are down 98% or something like that. It was just coming across the border like crazy, and like, we just need to crack down.”
