Vance, Rand Paul Clash Over US Strike on Venezuela Cartel

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul tore into Vice President JD Vance’s defense of the U.S. military’s strike on an alleged drug vessel leaving Venezuela.

And he cited a long-loved literary classic to prove his point.

“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 on Saturday night. “Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation??”

Paul was referencing Harper Lee’s widely read 1960 novel, the source of a classic 1962 film.

The strike, ordered by the White House and announced by President Donald Trump at a press conference last Tuesday, was an escalation of the administration’s brewing fight with the government of Venezuela and the Tren de Aragua gang, which it has sought to tie together. Trump said the attack killed 11 suspected traffickers.

Inside the administration, officials say to expect more direct action.

“Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” Vance wrote Saturday on X.

But others in Washington question the attack’s legality. They are looking for answers as to why the administration elected to fire on the cartel, rather than rounding them up, and some are wary the strike could expand the president’s authority to call upon his war powers. There have also been questions about details of the attack and desire for proof that the boat itself was actually what the administration says it was.

“What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial,” Paul said of Vance’s Saturday post.