Did this guy run out of his 15 minutes again?

Rand Paul rips JD Vance's assertion that executing cartel members is the 'best use of our military'
'What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial,' Paul noted

By Alex Nitzberg / Fox News
Published September 8, 2025 6:01am EDT

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky strongly objected after Vice President JD Vance asserted in a Saturday post on X that "Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military."

"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??" Senator Paul wrote. "What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial."

In a Truth Social post last week, President Donald Trump shared video footage of what he said was "a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists" who he said "were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States."

Someone responded to Vance by writing that, "Killing the citizens of another nation who are civilians without any due process is called a war crime."

But the vice president swiftly fired back.

"I don’t give a s[---] what you call it," Vance declared.

GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio pushed back against Paul.

"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 wrote on on X.

Appealing to low intellect voters. Which I would have thought was beneath Rand Paul (apparently not).

I’m not a lawyer but we always had the legal right to kill pirates and terrorists on the high seas. We just never had the constitution for such acts. At least not this century.

I cringe every time I see pirates taking over a ship. 3 naval vessels in any waterway could effectively make piracy a dicey act for pirates.

I spent 6 months on a drug enforcement deployment. Find the traffickers and follow them until CG and Customs assets could attempt a takedown. Which without the use of force is pretty tricky at high speed on the water. Using force makes it simpler. Using deadly force makes it easy. Any military asset can easily take out these terrorists and we should do it as a matter of course.

Conflating terrorists and pirates as common criminals due arrest and a court date is ludicrous. This action is easily defendable under maritime law.

Agreed 100%. We should be air striking these dudes daily. Libertarians have totally lost the plot; we have legal authority to protect ourselves and responsible elected leaders should've availed themselves of such authority yesterday.

One of the many strategic errors of our recent past has been the political & administrative decision to treat pirates and terrorists as a criminal justice matter rather than simply killing them with the military. More of this, please.

Narco cartels are not criminals, they are foreign terrorist organizations. JD is right about using military force against them.

I used to like Rand Paul and followed him on X. But, lately he's has been acting like a complete ass clown.

I haven't checked, but wonder if he is making noise in advance of a re-election campaign.

quote:

Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird?

Yeah, posting something that stupid was a real mistake by Paul. That shit is going to follow him forever. Such a stupid remark.

His ideological bullshit is not applicable to the world as it exists. Useless abstractions and words on a page, nothing more.

quote:

Originally posted by CoolRich59:
I haven't checked, but wonder if he is making noise in advance of a re-election campaign.

Not until '26.

To be fair, politicians primary 2 concerns are:
1. getting elected
2. getting re-elected

Well he could not get along with his neighbor. If I remember correctly his neighbor was an anesthesiogist with a temper. The subsequent altercation led to a hospital stay. I wonder if he would call that a neighborly dispute rather than an assault.

I like Vance. Former marine with a hardscabble background.

Re: Rand Paul comment.

Paul has always been in the shadow of Mitch McConnell and he is establishing himself as the “Top Dog” in the Commonwealth now that Mitch McConnell is retiring. He’s showing he’s not going to be anyone’s lapdog.

There’s currently an internal knife fight going on in the Kentucky GOP between the 3 contenders for the Primary in May 2026, 2 of which are McConnell protégés.

I’m not being a Rand Paul apologist; just stating facts within Kentucky politics. Paul’s current term goes until January 2029.

quote:

He’s showing he’s not going to be anyone’s lapdog.

His specific comment here only shows that he’s a jackass.

quote:

Originally posted by 2BobTanner:
He’s showing he’s not going to be anyone’s lapdog.

He's showing that he talks out of his ass.

JD technically missed GenX by a couple years, but his comment strongly reflects how GenX thinks and I can only hope there is more to come.

'I don't give a shit' is the correct response to that little Krassenstein a-hole, and also to all of the decrepit, aging boomer politicians and bureaucratic Karens who have royally screwed this country for their own gain. They simply don't know how to respond to it.

I like Paul, but hes not his father or Massie.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Yeah, posting something that stupid was a real mistake by Paul. That shit is going to follow him forever. Such a stupid remark.

Comparing the black man in the book to Tren de Aragua drug terrorists/smugglers is just insanely stupid, something Kamala would have said.

quote:

Originally posted by oddball:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Yeah, posting something that stupid was a real mistake by Paul. That shit is going to follow him forever. Such a stupid remark.

Comparing the black man in the book to Tren de Aragua drug terrorists/smugglers is just insanely stupid, something Kamala would have said.

We just unincumbered the drug smugglers with what might have been