John James Calls Russia the Enemy. What About the Cartels Killing Americans?

John James wants Michigan voters to know who the enemy is — and it's not the cartels flooding American streets with fentanyl or the bureaucrats who threw open the southern border. It's Russia.

Asked by CBS's Major Garrett about President Trump lifting sanctions on Russian diesel sales and shifting Ukraine policy, James didn't hesitate. "Russia is the enemy," he declared, per Breitbart, before pivoting to attack his opponent Abdul El-Sayed for supposedly not knowing friend from foe. James emphasized he had "voted to sanction Russia" and insisted "we must stand by our allies, at home and abroad."

There it is. The uniparty reflex. Every time a politician says "allies, abroad," reach for your wallet.

James is running for governor of Michigan — a state gutted by fentanyl, deindustrialization, and the consequences of a border that hasn't been secured in a generation. His answer to a question about American policy toward Russia was to recite the same bipartisan consensus that has burned through hundreds of billions overseas while American communities were left to rot. The message to Michigan voters couldn't be clearer: your suffering comes second.

And the irony cuts deeper. Even President Trump — the man whose policy shifts prompted the question — doesn't share James's certainty about who the adversary is. As Europe Says reported, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he does not believe China or Russia is helping Iran in its conflict with the United States and Israel. "If they are, it's at a very low level, but I don't believe they are at all," Trump posted.

That puts Trump at odds with his own administration. The State Department sanctioned China-based companies in May for supplying satellite imagery that enabled Iranian attacks on American forces. Reuters reported Iran expected deliveries of Chinese-made air-defense launchers. The Financial Times reported Russian specialists worked with Iran on cruise missile technology.

So the president is downplaying evidence his own government compiled, while a Michigan candidate insists Russia is the enemy and must be sanctioned at every turn. The bipartisan foreign policy consensus holds: Russia is forever the adversary, no matter what the facts say, no matter what it costs Americans at home.

James told Garrett, "The president can speak for himself." Fair enough. But James is asking Michigan to speak for him — and what he's offering is more of the same. More sanctions. More commitments abroad. More "standing with allies" while American families pay in blood and treasure.

The founders didn't build a republic to bankroll foreign entanglements. They built it to secure liberty for their own people. When a man running to govern Michigan can name foreign enemies but can't name the ones killing his constituents every day, the question isn't whether he knows who the enemy is. It's whether he remembers who he works for.