Vance allies fire back at Rand Paul for defending 'foreign terrorists' killed in drone strike

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky took aim at Vice President JD Vance over the weekend for defending the administration's drone strike of alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers. Since then, a source close to Vance told Blaze News that "hypocrites" like Paul are simply suffering from a "debilitating case of Trump derangement syndrome."

President Donald Trump's administration greenlit a drone strike in Venezuela last week, claiming to have killed 11 drug traffickers identified as members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Vance defended the strike, calling it the "highest and best use of our military."

'That pisses off hypocrites like Rand Paul.'

Paul quickly sounded off online, calling Vance's remarks "despicable and thoughtless."

"JD 'I don’t give a s**t' Vance says killing people he accuses of a crime is the 'highest and best use of the military,'" Paul said in a post on X. "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?? What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial."

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In response to Paul's pushback, a source close to Vance told Blaze News that the Republican senator was "sticking up for foreign terrorists" killed in the strike. At the same time, Paul defended a drone strike executed by Obama in 2015 that killed three Americans in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.

"I do think there is a valuable use for drones," Paul said in 2015. "And as much as I'm seen as an opponent of drones, I think in military and warfare, they do have some value."

"The world is so partisan, I tend not to want to blame the president for the loss of life here," Paul said of the Obama strike in 2015. "I think he was trying to do the right thing."

"The vice president believes in the Trump doctrine and using overwhelming force to protect core American interests and save American lives," the source told Blaze News on Monday. "That pisses off hypocrites like Rand Paul, who during his failed run for president defended Obama droning American citizens without due process, but now is sticking up for foreign terrorists thanks to his debilitating case of Trump derangement syndrome."

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Paul has since stood by his remarks, noting that he was one of Obama's staunchest critics for using drones against American citizens overseas.

"During my time in the Senate, I have been the foremost critic of drones being used on civilians, especially Americans," Paul told Blaze News. "In 2013, I spoke for nearly 13 hours filibustering Obama's use of drones on American citizens overseas. I have not, however, opposed the concept of using drones in war. That position remains unaltered today."

Paul argued that the recent strike against the Venezuelans was not part of any declared war, which he says "defies our longstanding Coast Guard rules of engagement."

"The recent drone attack on a small speedboat over 2,000 miles from our shore without identification of the occupants or the content of the boat is in no way part of a declared war and defies our long-standing Coast Guard rules of engagement which include: warnings to halt, nonlethal force to capture, and ultimately lethal force in self-defense or in cases of resistance," Paul told Blaze News.

Editor's note: The headline of this article was edited after publication.

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