Admiral Bradley’s Testimony Delivers Devastating Blow to Dem Narrative of Drug Boat Story – RedState
Democrats and the media tried to concoct a story that the Trump administration took down drug boats. They thought they were onto something with a Washington Post article that War Secretary 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 that the military “could 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 said this in response to questions about Admiral Mitch Bradley’s testimony before Congress. He said: “I expect Bradley to buy into that.” It seemed like he thought Bradley was going to serve their story.
READ MORE: This story about Hegseth and the drug boat strike just imploded even further
Oh my God: Democratic Sen. Mark Warner’s troubling remarks about the president. Trump and the military
Instead, when Bradley testified Thursday, he told the truth.
An initial Washington Post report had claimed that Hegseth had ordered those responsible for the anti-narcotics strikes to “kill them all”, leading Bradley to interpret this as an order to kill remaining survivors.
“The admiral confirmed that there was no order to kill them all and there was no order to give no quarter,” Rep. Jim Himes, D-Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, told reporters after a briefing with the admiral.
“Admiral Bradley was very clear that he had no such order, to give no quarter or kill them all,” said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
This is the story about Hegseth.
Plus, it seemed like the people in the water weren’t out of the fight.
According to officials who spoke to the Journal, Bradley ordered additional strikes after noticing that other suspected drug boats were nearby and survivors were trying to communicate with their cohorts by radio.
This is Bradley’s story.
Lawmakers watched 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 their actions.
“Was there a ‘kill all’ order from Secretary Hegseth?
.@SenTomCotton: “No. Admiral Bradley made it very clear that he had received no such orders, to give no quarter or to kill them all.”
IMAGINE THIS!
– Spitfire (@RealSpitfire) December 4, 2025
Democrats still tried to do something about it, with some coming out with testimonies after watching video of the strikes saying they were “troubled.”
“Those who appear ‘troubled’ by videos of military strikes against designated terrorists have clearly never seen the strikes ordered by Obama, or, for that matter, those of any other administration in recent decades,” Crawford said in a statement.
“I am deeply concerned by public statements made by others who seek to ignore the reality of targeting terrorists to score political points. I call on them to remember their own silence while our forces carried out identical strikes for years.”
Good for Crawford. Democrats appear to have completely forgotten about strikes against terrorists carried out by other administrations, including ground strikes in foreign countries. Everything is valued differently by Democrats to demonize Trump, no matter what, and Crawford wasn’t letting them get away with it.
Editor’s note: Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the warrior ethos is returning to the U.S. military.
Help us report on the successes of Trump and Hegseth in making our military great again. Join RedState VIP and use promo code STRUGGLE to benefit from 60% off your membership.
