There is a familiar pattern at work in Washington. When Democrats talk tough about a problem, it is noble and necessary. When President Donald Trump actually does something about it, it suddenly becomes a moral outrage. Narcoterrorism followed that script, just as immigration did. Strong borders and even a border wall were once bipartisan ideas, right up until Trump made them central to his campaign. Overnight, enforcement was recast as racism.
That same reflex is driving the left’s hysteria over Operation Southern Spear. The party that once demanded drug lords be hunted down “where they live” now pretends to be scandalized when Trump takes them at their word.
"Let's go after the drug lords where they live with an international strike force. There must be no safe haven for these narco-terrorists, and they must know it," then-Sen. Joe Biden said back in 1989.
Related: Democrats Supported Targeting Narco-Terrorists Before Trump, and We Have the Receipts
What has happened since then? Today, the same Democrats who wanted to go after narco-terrorists and barely blinked at hundreds of Obama-era drone strikes, including civilian and even American deaths, are feigning outrage over Trump’s actions to protect our country from drugs. This is not principled outrage; it’s just another excuse to fling accusations at Trump.
And they’re literally accusing him of war crimes.
But one Democrat is calling them out for their unhinged rhetoric.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said classified briefings reassured him that U.S. military actions tied to Venezuela are targeted and intelligence-driven, and not the start of a broader or prolonged operation.
Asked by NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo what he learned that eased concerns about “some kind of extended military exercise around Venezuela or in Venezuela,” Fetterman said the picture presented to lawmakers was detailed and precise. He argued that media portrayals suggesting indiscriminate force are inaccurate and fail to capture how decisions are made.
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“This idea some things out in the media, uh, it, it’s kind of putting out this, that, that the military’s just picking off, you know, any boat that comes across. That, that’s just not true,” Fetterman said.
According to the Pennsylvania lawmaker, operations rely on extensive intelligence that identifies both the people involved and the contents of vessels before any action is taken. He said commanders frequently decide not to act.
“I mean, there’s extensive intelligence, um, and they know exactly who’s on that boat, and they know what’s actually on that boat right now. And it, it’s quite frequently they, they decline to take it and to move on those things,” he said.
When force is used, Fetterman said, it follows a high threshold of certainty.
“When they move on those kinetic kinds of strikes, you know, they have absolute confidence that who’s on it and what’s on it, and, and that’s exactly what it’s about,” he said. “They’re not just going around randomly just shooting, shooting boats, and those things. That’s just not the fact at all.”
WATCH: Sen. John Fetterman went on Cuomo and destroyed the War Crimes Hoax in less than a minute.
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) December 17, 2025
CHRIS CUOMO: Topic switch. What did you learn, Senator, that gave you any comfort that we're not heading into some kind of extended military exercise around Venezuela or in… pic.twitter.com/3zuBMOY5bQ
It matters when a Democrat senator goes on record dismantling his own party’s talking points. Fetterman is hardly alone in having access to the classified briefings and the underlying facts. He is simply the only one willing to say out loud what the rest also know but won't admit because they'd rather attack Trump.
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