Rep. Senator calls Vance remarks on Venezuela boat strike 'despicable'
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JD Vance faces backlash after defending the US boat strike on a Venezuelan boat that killed 11, with critics warning his stance glorifies executions without justice.
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US Vice President JD Vance speaks to the press as second lady Usha Vance looks on the tarmac of Minneapolis' Saint Paul International Airport, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, St. Paul, Minn. (AP)
The Republican head of the Senate Homeland Security Committee has sharply criticized Vice President JD Vance for remarks appearing to endorse extrajudicial killings by the US military.
“Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” Vance wrote Saturday on X, defending last week’s US strike on a Venezuelan boat in the Caribbean Sea that left 11 people dead. The administration has alleged the victims were drug traffickers.
Vance added, “Democrats: let’s send your kids to die in Russia. Republicans: actually, let’s protect our people from the scum of the earth.”
Glorifying killing someone without a trial
Sen. Rand Paul, chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, responded to Vance's remarks and took a swing at his expression of the "highest and best use of the military," linking it to the extrajudicial killings.
“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 posted on X, citing Harper Lee’s novel about a wrongly convicted Black man shot while trying to escape prison.
He also denounced the vice president's approach to the issues as "despicable" and "thoughtless".
“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."
'Counterterrorism operation' or extrajudicial killing?
Casting the boat attack as a "counterterrorism operation", US President Donald Trump promised further military action against what he described as "alleged traffickers", saying after the boat strike, “there’s more where that came from.”
No evidence of the alleged drug trafficking was submitted in the process.
“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in international waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. 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!”
Strained relations
The attack has further strained US-Venezuelan relations. In August, Trump deployed warships and Marines to the Caribbean, moves supporters said were aimed at pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. On Friday, reports surfaced that 10 US F-35 fighter jets were being sent to Puerto Rico to back operations against suspected traffickers.
Some analysts warn that the escalation could spiral into direct conflict between US and Venezuelan forces.
Last month, Washington placed a $50 million bounty on Maduro, twice the amount once offered for Osama bin Laden, and in July, Trump signed a classified directive authorizing military action against Latin American cartels designated as "terrorist groups", including the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles, which US officials have linked to Maduro.
Maduro deploys 25,000 troops to Colombia border, Caribbean coast
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced earlier the deployment of 25,000 armed forces to the border region with Colombia and along the Caribbean coast, saying the mobilization is intended to strengthen rapid reaction operations and safeguard national security.
“The main objective of this mobilization is to defend national sovereignty and national security and to fight for peace,” Maduro said.
In previous statements, Maduro warned that Venezuela would “enter the stage of armed struggle” if attacked, while stressing that the country remains open to dialogue but demands respect.
Maduro warned on Friday that his country is prepared to “enter a stage of armed struggle” if subjected to foreign aggression, while stressing that Venezuela “has always been open to dialogue, but demands respect.”
In a televised address, Maduro dismissed attempts by US President Donald Trump’s administration to pursue regime change in Caracas, describing them as “a mistake".
“No disagreement between Venezuela and the United States should lead to military conflict,” he said, calling on Washington to abandon what he described as reckless plans for interference.
Maduro rejected Trump’s accusations that his government leads a “drug cartel", stressing that Venezuela is free of cocaine cultivation and production. He likened US claims to the fabricated allegations of weapons of mass destruction used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
