WASHINGTON, D. C. – Vice President JD Vance is drawing sharp social media criticism from Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and others following a heated exchange over the Trump administration’s deadly military strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug vessel.
The controversy erupted on Saturday when Vance wrote on the social platform X: “Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” referencing the September 2 military strike.
President Donald Trump said the attack last week in the southern Caribbean Sea killed 11 people, whom he described as “narcoterrorists” affiliated with the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
Washington has deployed more than 4,000 troops and naval assets to the region, saying the move targets Latin American drug cartels, the Associated Press reports. U.S. officials have not suggested a ground incursion into Venezuela, but Venezuelan— President Nicolás Maduro classified the buildup as a threat of invasion.
He accused the U.S. of fabricating drug-trafficking allegations to justify regime change, pointing to Washington’s decision last month to double its reward for Maduro’s arrest to $50 million.
When Brian Krassenstein, a social media personality, responded that “killing the citizens of another nation who are civilians without any due process is called a war crime,” Vance shot back, “I don’t give a s— what you call it.”
This provoked social media condemnation from Kentucky Republican Paul, who served in the U.S. Senate with Vance.
“What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial,” Paul said, criticizing the Cincinnati Republican for supporting the deadly strike.
Paul called the vice president “JD ‘I don’t give a sh-t’” and questioned the administration’s approach to due process.
“Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird?” Paul wrote of Vance. ” Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation??”
U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Westlake Republican, weighed in with a response to Paul that said “what’s really despicable is defending foreign terrorist drug traffickers who are *directly* responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans in Kentucky and Ohio.”
“JD understands that our first responsibility is to protect the life and liberty of American citizens,” Moreno continued.
Krassenstein responded that killing 11 people in this way could be classified as an extrajudicial killing under international human rights law, potentially exposing U.S. officials to responsibility.
“You will never be president,” he told Vance. “Imagine if Venezuela decided to bomb a boat driving from Maryland to New York City, which had 11 Americans and a bunch of drugs in it. What would be your response?”
Legal experts have expressed skepticism about the legality of the strike, noting that cartel members and drug smugglers have traditionally been treated as criminals with due process rights — not enemy combatants.
Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group told NPR he questioned whether the strike violated laws, while CNN reported that legal experts say the administration has provided “a mishmash of public justifications that raise serious questions about the legality of the strike”.
Moreno defended the strike in an interview with Voz News, saying Trump’s action saved American lives. He said the attack is “just the beginning.”
“If you want to bring drugs into the United States, that’s the least that’s going to happen to you,” said Moreno, who was born in Columbia, a nation whose president criticized the attack.
Moreno described Maduro as a “criminal” and “narco-terrorist,” and said he’ll have to leave Venezuala “dead or alive.”
The incident represents the first known military strike in the region since President Trump ordered an increased U.S. military presence in the Caribbean as part of his administration’s efforts to combat drug trafficking and what he terms “narco-terrorism” from Venezuela.
In response to the strike and increased U.S. presence in the Caribean region, Maduro ordered a substantial military reinforcement in strategic areas, Reuters reported. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino announced that troop levels in states like Nueva Esparta, Sucre, and Delta Amacuro would increase from 10,000 to 25,000.
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