Democrats and the media have been trying to whip up a story about the Trump administration taking out drug boats. They thought they had something with a story from the Washington Post that claimed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered a second strike on a drug boat when there were survivors in the water.
I reported how Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) made troubling comments about the military “may help save us from this president and his lame people like Hegseth” because their “commitment is to the Constitution and obviously not to Trump.” He was saying that in response to questions about Admiral Mitch Bradley testifying before Congress. He stated, “I expect Bradley to adhere to that.” That sounded like he thought that Bradley was going to serve their narrative.
READ MORE: That Narrative About Hegseth and the Strike on the Drug Boats Just Imploded Even More
Oh My: Dem Sen. Mark Warner’s Troubling Remarks About Pres. Trump and the Military
Instead, when Bradley testified on Thursday, he told the truth.
An initial Washington Post report had claimed that Hegseth ordered those in charge of the counter-narcotics strikes to “kill them all,” leading Bradley to interpret this as orders to kill remaining survivors.
“The admiral confirmed that there had not been a kill them all order and that there was not an order to grant no quarter,” Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, told reporters after a briefing with the admiral.
“Adm. Bradley was very clear that he was given no such order, not to give no quarter or to kill them all,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said.
There goes that story as to Hegseth.
Not only that, it appeared the people in the water weren’t out of the fight.
According to the officials who spoke to the Journal, Bradley ordered the additional strikes after noting that other suspected drug boats were nearby and the survivors were thought to be attempting to communicate with their cohorts by radio.
There goes that story as to Bradley.
Lawmakers viewed video of the strikes, as Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) explained. He said it was completely justified because the people in the water were continuing in their actions.
“Was there a ‘kill all’ order from Secretary Hegseth?”
.@SenTomCotton: “No. Admiral Bradley was very clear that he was given no such order to, to give no quarter or kill them all.”
IMAGINE THAT!
— Spitfire (@RealSpitfire) December 4, 2025
The Democrats still tried to make something of it, with some coming out of the testimony after having viewed the video of the strikes saying they were “troubled.”
“Those who appear ‘troubled’ by videos of military strikes on designated terrorists have clearly never seen the Obama-ordered strikes, or, for that matter, those of any other administration over recent decades,” Crawford sniped in a statement.
“I am deeply concerned by the public statements made by others that seek to ignore the realities of targeting terrorists to score political points. I call upon them to remember their own silence as our forces conducted identical strikes for years.”
Good for Crawford. The Democrats seem to have completely forgotten about strikes against terrorists by other administrations, including strikes on land in foreign countries. Everything is evaluated differently by Democrats to demonize Trump, no matter what it is, and Crawford wasn’t letting them get away with it.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America’s military.
Help us report on Trump and Hegseth’s successes as they make our military great again. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
