Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) may have just hurt the case being made by other Democrats regarding President Donald Trump’s drug boat strikes.
Trump was shocked when several Democrats released a video telling troops not to follow "unlawful" orders given by Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, presumably those related to the boat strikes.
Warner, however, admitted that intelligence reports agree that the boats at issue are indeed carrying drugs, but that is not to say that he likes Trump’s approach to the problem.
Trump went nuclear after the Democrat lawmakers' video was posted, and there were plenty of Republicans backing him up on this front.
The president posted, “It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand — We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET.”
He continued, “This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???” Trump then really stirred them up, adding, "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!"
I thought that last line was over the top, only because I knew how Democrats would react, and of course, they did exactly what I thought they would do, claiming that Trump put a target on their backs.
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) responded, "I’m not telling people to ignore orders. I’m enormously frustrated with the way that this very sensible video is being interpreted in a really insidious way."
That, however, is a lie. In that video, the legislators clearly asked members of the military to defy orders they believe are illegal.
The video stated, "The threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad but from right here at home. Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
And yes, illegal orders can be refused, but that does not appear to be what is happening here. And one would think that if Democrats truly thought the administration's orders were illegal, the question would already be working its way through the courts. Instead, the lawmakers are asking for open mutiny.
Several weeks ago, Warner shockingly admitted that the intelligence reports he saw backed up what the administration was saying publicly about the drug boats.
He has since added, “I believe there is good intelligence that we can follow the drug routes. We know -- and I’ll even grant the administration that most of these boats, potentially all of them, have drugs on them.”
Warner again noted his preference for stopping the boats and arresting the drug runners, however, making much the same argument as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has made on this front.
The Democrat, of course, took a shot at Trump to say that the president is conducting the boat strikes as a diversion tactic to get eyes trained away from the economy and the Epstein files, but that is just typical political rhetoric when one side is doing something the other does not like. Regardless, I would bet that most of the Democrats whining about these strikes have not been made privy to the intelligence reports referenced by Warner. This is going to get worse before it gets better, however, as the video put out by Democrats was clearly done to agitate Trump, and he took the bait.
