President Donald Trump and his administration have continued trying to stop the flow of dangerous and illegal narcotics like fentanyl into the United States by using military force against the smuggling boats based out of Venezuela. As could be expected, the Democrats have continued trying to use that to attack him, leading to a sharp rebuke from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
For reference, one of the main claims used as a weapon against President Trump and his administration was that the president and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth allegedly ordered the military to launch a “second strike” on a drug boat in the Caribbean to finish off the survivors. That claim was exposed as a lie by an admiral who testified before Congress.
One such Democrat who launched such an attack on Secretary Hegseth was Sen. Mark Kelly, who said, in a post on X, “We need to know what information Hegseth had before ordering the execution of everyone on that boat and if those onboard were properly identified. But the bigger question remains: Does it make Americans any safer to kill people without due process? I don’t believe it does.”
Press Secretary Leavitt responded to the left’s claims and attacks during a Tuesday, December 9, interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends”. Doing so, she snapped, “It speaks to the depravity of the Democrat Party that they have stooped so low, they are attacking our military leadership.”
Continuing, the press secretary added that the strikes, 22 of which have so far occurred, are well within the bounds of American law and the service members who engaged in them were acting lawfully. She said, “They are attacking the brave men and women who have conducted these strikes well within the law, following the orders from their commander in chief.”
Adding to that, the press secretary questioned why Democrats and the media are pretending to be surprised about these strikes, noting that President Trump said he would demolish the cartels and is now working to do so. She said, “In 2024, the GOP platform at the Republican Party Convention, written by President Trump and his team, stated that we are going to quote, ‘Demolish foreign drug cartels.’ President Trump campaigned on this. He is delivering on it.”
Still not done, Press Secretary Leavitt argued that the White House is standing with the families of those who have died from fentanyl rather than being willing to back down from its efforts against the cartels because of Democrat outrage. She said, “Every time President Trump and Secretary Hegseth and the White House are criticized for blowing up drug boats, we are thinking about Americans like Anne Fundner, who lost her 15-year-old son Weston to a drug overdose.”
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Concluding, the press secretary said that it is a good thing that President Trump is paying attention to the massive problem posed by fentanyl and the cartels and is thus cracking down on it, saying, “I think it’s great President Trump is finally paying attention to it and taking strong action.” Watch her here:
Karoline Leavitt: Democrats Are Attacking Our Military
“I think it speaks to the depravity of the Democrat Party that they have stooped so low, they are attacking our military leadership. They are attacking the brave men and women who conducted the strikes well within the law…… pic.twitter.com/QMfaB6Aq68
— Mr Producer (@RichSementa) December 9, 2025