JD Vance has escalated his rhetoric on U.S. military strikes on boats in international waters with a crude joke about killing innocent fishermen.
The vice president has shrugged off mounting criticism about the airstrikes President Donald Trump ordered on alleged Venezuelan drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean in recent weeks, which have reportedly killed at least 14 people.
Critics argue that those on board were never given a chance to defend themselves in a court of law and questioned the legality of the strikes, but Vance has shown indifference, posting, “I don’t give a s–t.”
He doubled down while speaking at a Michigan rally on Tuesday, where he recalled a recent conversation with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—now called Secretary of War by the Trump administration—who supposedly remarked that there were no more drug boats coming into the country.
“I said, ‘I know why!’ Vance, 41, recounted with a grin. “I would stop too.” Then, chuckling, he added, “Hell, I wouldn’t go fishing right now in that area of the world.”
The line drew muted laughter from the crowd at the stamping plant in Howell, about an hour’s drive from Detroit.
Vance, a Marine vet, described himself as a “child of the war on terrorism era,” and said, “I am proud to have a president who is sending our military to light up the cartels that threaten our people in our own backyard.”
Trump, 79, who posted videos of the strikes on Truth Social, has claimed that the boats were manned by “extremely violent drug trafficking cartels” who were “transporting illegal narcotics.”
The three bombings the commander-in-chief claims to have ordered so far feed into his narrative that the U.S. is under attack from foreign criminal networks, in particular the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua cartel.
However, the administration has provided few details about how the attacks were carried out or what sort of drugs were on board.
Moreover, maritime drug laws usually require drug smugglers’ vessels to be seized by the Coast Guard, not blown up.
After the first strike earlier this month, MAGA critic Brian Krassentein called out Vance on X, writing, “Killing the citizens of another nation who are civilians without any due process is called a war crime.”
Vance responded, “I don’t give a s–t what you call it,”
That comment drew a sharp rebuke from GOP Sen. Rand Paul, who wrote on X, “What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial.”
I don’t give a shit what you call it
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 6, 2025
On Monday, Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, blasted the strikes as an “outrageous violation of the law and a dangerous assault on our Constitution” in a statement.
“No president can secretly wage war or carry out unjustified killings—that is authoritarianism, not democracy,” the Rhode Island senator said in his statement.
Reed also warned that Trump risks igniting a war with Venezuela, which has argued that the boat struck earlier this month was a fishing vessel and called the strikes “provocations,” according to NBC News.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Vance’s office for comment.
The post JD Vance Jokes About Killing Innocent Fishermen in International Waters appeared first on The Daily Beast.
