Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Sunday that recent strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea “go against all our tradition.”
“President Trump has authorized military strikes against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. As you know, so far more than 20 people, senator, have been killed in six different strikes. Do you believe that these strikes against these suspected drug boats are legal?” NBC News’s Kristen Welker asked Paul on “Meet the Press.”
“No, they go against all of our tradition. When you kill someone, you should know, if you’re not at war, not in a declared war, you really need to know someone’s name at least,” Paul responded.
“You have to accuse them of something. You have to present evidence. So all of these people have been blown up without us knowing their name, without any evidence of a crime,” he added.
The U.S. military has conducted multiple strikes aimed at alleged trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea in recent months. Trump recently declared the United States is now in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels deemed by the White House as terrorist groups, giving legal rationale for the strikes.
Paul took a swing at Vice President Vance early last month over comments the vice president made about a strike on an alleged drug boat.
“Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” Vance wrote in an early September post on the social platform X, referencing a U.S. military strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea that the Trump administration said killed 11 Venezuelan drug traffickers.
In response to the vice president’s post, Paul wrote in a post of his own later that day that “JD ‘I don’t give a s—‘ 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? Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation??” the Kentucky senator added. “What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment on Paul’s Sunday morning interview.
