Free Republic

Rand Paul (R-KY) blasted President Donald Trump’s overseas strikes on alleged drug boats “insane” and not something “civilized people” do. Paul joined Glenn Greenwald on the System Update podcast where he called out Trump and his Republican colleagues over US strikes against alleged drug boats in South American waters. Paul accused Republicans of supporting actions they would be up in arms over if a Democrat were in office. The senator argued the strikes include no due process and could be leading to the death of innocent people.

Friday on MSNBC’s “Deadline,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) claimed lawmakers had seen “no evidence” the Trump administration’s military strikes were on drug boats. Host Nicolle Wallace asked, “What briefings have you received on the success of striking drug traffickers? Have you seen evidence or images of drugs being found on the boats that have been struck?” Blumenthal said, “What briefings? Zero. And as you may know, I think it’s public by now, there was a briefing for Republican senators only, which is unprecedented. So we’ve seen no evidence, none whatsoever, as to who is in these boats, more than ten...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) warned on Friday that President Trump’s growing involvements in Ukraine’s war with Russia and in the Caribbean Sea against Venezuela could further unravel and greatly upset the MAGA base. Paul, in an interview with Dasha Burns on Politico’s “The Conversation” podcast, said the $20 billion “economic stabilization” agreement with Argentina could be “the dealbreaker … because it’s an enormous amount of money.” “But if there is more money going to Ukraine, and it looks like he is coming down on the side of getting us involved with Ukraine on their side of the war [with Russia]...

@SenRandPaul Bomb first, ask questions “never” makes zero constitutional sense and even less practical sense. I still have questions about the survivors from Ecuador and Colombia. Either they’re drug traffickers, in which case they should be tried and locked up, or they’re not. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that people who value the Constitution and due process are skeptical.

Senator Rand Paul is on a campaign to knock President Donald Trump off of his warpath. During Paul’s appearance on Fox News Sunday, host Shannon Bream asked the Kentucky Republican what information he wanted the government to provide about its military strikes in the Caribbean Sea. But Paul said that a briefing wasn’t what he was after. “A briefing’s not enough to overcome the Constitution,” Paul said. “The Constitution says that when you go to war, Congress has to vote on it. And during a war then, [there are] lower rules for engagement and people do sometimes get killed without...

The Trump administration’s military airstrikes against boats off Venezuela’s coast that the White House claims were being used for drug trafficking are “extrajudicial killings”, said Rand Paul, the president’s fellow Republican and US senator from Kentucky. Paul’s strong comments on the topic came on Sunday during an interview on Republican-friendly Fox News, three days after Donald Trump publicly claimed he “can’t imagine” federal lawmakers would have “any problem” with the strikes when asked about seeking congressional approval for them. US forces in recent weeks have carried out at least eight strikes against boats in the Caribbean off Venezuela’s coast, killing...

🚨 JUST IN: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) accuses President Trump of doing what CHINA and IRAN do when he "executes" narco-terrorists "I would call them extrajudicial killings. This is akin to what China does, what Iran does with drug dealers -- they summarily execute people without presenting evidence to the public. So it's WRONG."

@RandPaul Like I told @cherylcasone on @MorningsMaria, Republicans ran against Biden’s reckless spending… then adopted his spending levels. I won’t. $38 trillion in debt isn’t sustainable. It’s a threat to our economy and our dollar. I’ll keep voting no until Washington gets serious about balancing the budget.

During remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) President Trump's lethal strikes against alleged Venezuelan narco boats in international waters.

The Washington establishment is once again working overtime to undermine the best of President Trump’s restraint-oriented foreign policy instincts. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which Congress is currently debating, includes three separate provisions that reduce the president’s ability to reposition or withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, Europe, and South Korea. The hypocrisy is blatant. Congress is content to avoid tough votes by abdicating its warmaking powers to the executive branch. It has not formally declared war since the Second World War. Yet when the President displays a willingness to end wars and consolidate America’s overstretched military, Congress seeks to...

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.

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has once again raised eyebrows by publicly questioning President Trump’s latest show of military force, this time over a Venezuelan drug vessel blown to pieces in the Caribbean. The Gateway Pundit reported in August that Trump ‘secretly’ signed a directive ordering the Pentagon to start using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels. The order provides an official basis for the possibility of direct military operations at sea and on foreign soil against cartels. This means that US troops could find themselves in countries like Mexico battling the Sinaloa Cartel, for example. As TGP readers...

@ChrisVanHollen Netanyahu is restricting aid trucks into Gaza—the best way to get food to starving people there—so Jordan is delivering some with air drops. The Jordanians said @SenJeffMerkley & I could join one of those flights to see the devastation, but Israel denied authorization for our scheduled flight.

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson Senator Alex Padilla is crying on live television after his arrest. These are not serious people. From Collin Rugg

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said Friday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” that he will never apologize, but President Donald Trump should apologize for the way the legal process has happened in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Host Anderson Cooper said, “I want to read what a part of a statement released by the White House. ‘The Democrat lawmakers, namely Democrat senator Chris Van Hollen, and every single so-called journalist who defended this illegal criminal abuser must immediately apologize to Garcia’s victims.’ Your response to that?” Van Hollen said, “I will never apologize for defending the Constitution. In fact,...

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Ali Velshi” that the Trump administration was attempting to silence Congress and suspend the Constitution. When asked about the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at the Delaney Hall Detention Center last week, Van Hollen said, “The assault that we’re witnessing right now is the Trump administration’s assault on the Constitution and due process rights, and in this case separation of powers and the ability of Congress to get the facts. We even had Stephen Miller, the other day, the president, one of his top advisers, talk about suspending the Constitution,...

[Note: This article has been updated to include a new response from the office of Hakeem Jeffries.] HOUSE MINORITY LEADER Hakeem Jeffries was asked Monday whether Democrats should continue to advocate for the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and the other men wrongly shipped to El Salvador, by making the trip to the country to put a spotlight on the issue. “Our reaction is that Donald Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president in modern American history,” Jeffries responded. But while Jeffries may be publicly agnostic on El Salvador trips like the one Reps. Robert Garcia, Yassamin Ansari,...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Thursday on MSNBC’s “Chris Jansing Reports” that if President Donald Trump disobeyed a Supreme Court order, “extraordinary action will be necessary.” Jansing said, “The Supreme Court said the administration must facilitate the return of Kilmer Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. That has not happened. Are we at the point, Senator, where you feel extraordinary action is warranted?” Schumer said, “Look, the case will be back to the Supreme Court, they sent it down to the lower court judge. But if the president disobeys a Supreme Court order, extraordinary action...

[H/T HoneysuckleTN]https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1914674910049296868 8:37 AM · Apr 22, 2025 · 355K Views

Maryland Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen, who is championing the jailed illegal migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, has some loud American advice for El Salvador’s government: “They should just let him go.” The advice was delivered at a safe press conference in the United States, far from the busy streets of the Latin American country that until recently was wracked by MS-13 gangsters. The gang violence was wiped off the streets when the voters elected President Nayib Bukele with a mandate to restore law and order in their small country.