Sen. Rand Paul stepped up his attacks on the Trump administration again on Saturday, taking aim at a social media post from Vice President JD Vance regarding President Donald Trump’s decision to strike a boat suspected of smuggling drugs to the U.S. last week.
The Kentucky Republican called Vance’s remarks in response to a post by a noted left-wing social media influencer “despicable and heartless” after the second-in-command said Trump’s attack, which killed 11 suspected Venezuelan smugglers, an appropriate use of the U.S. military.
“Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” Vance wrote on the X platform.
Left-wing activist Brian Krassenstein responded, “Killing the citizens of another nation who are civilians without any due process is called a war crime.”
The Trump administration has designated members of the Venezuelan-based Tren de Aragua cartel, suspected of operating the vessel that was destroyed, as a foreign terrorist organization.