Republican slams Vance for ‘despicable’ comments on Venezuelan boat strike

The controversial attack increased the already-high tensions between the US and Venezuela. In August, Trump dispatched warships and marines to the Caribbean, which his supporters say is part of efforts to oust Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro. On Friday, reports revealed that Trump was sending 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico to support US military action against drug traffickers.

Some fear the developments may signal a full military conflict between Venezuelan and US service members. Last month, the US offered a $50m bounty for Maduro, twice what it offered for Osama bin Laden, and in July signed a secret mandate approving military action against Latin American cartels deemed terrorist organizations, such as the Venezuelan group Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), which Trump officials have claimed Maduro leads.

Trump also characterized the boat attack as military activity against “terrorists” in subsequent statements on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in international waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States,” he said. “The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No US Forces were harmed in this strike … Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!”

The Republican senator Rand Paul, who chairs the Senate committee on homeland security and government affairs, criticized Vance’s comments.

“JD ‘I don’t give a shit’ Vance says killing people he accuses of a crime is the ‘highest and best use of the military.’ Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird?” Paul wrote on X, referencing Harper Lee’s 1960 novel about a wrongly convicted Black man who is killed as he tries to escape prison.

“Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation? What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial.”