Democrats and and their media surrogates have made it abundantly clear that they’re not going to let go of their chosen narrative surrounding War Secretary Pete Hegseth, Admiral Mitch Bradley, and how many strikes are necessary to neutralize the threat posed by Venezuelan narco-terrorists.
For those who don’t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week’s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.
A story that should have been on life-support by Sunday morning — published eight days earlier by The Washington Post — somehow still had legs. The initial story cited anonymous sources and described the scene that played out after SEAL Team 6 struck a boat that intelligence had identified as part of a drug-running operation.
According to the WaPo report, Hegseth issued a clear order: “Kill them all.” When the first strike left two survivors, the story alleged, a second order was given and another strike followed — this one taking out the remaining individuals on the scene.
What followed was a mad scramble for Democrats and media to take up the torch for those two survivors and give them the most sympathetic makeover possible. They were helpless, Democrats claimed, clinging to the wreckage of their boat and just hoping against hope that they might survive. Targeting unarmed survivors, they claimed, was nothing short of a war crime.
Over the following days, however, new reports added dimension to the story. ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz — who had helped sell the “helpless survivor” narrative just days earlier with “This Week” host Jonathan Karl — reported that the boat had apparently been disabled but not destroyed by the first strike. In addition, she cited sources who’d said the operators were in contact with the Judge Advocate General’s office in real time — and that because they’d believed the survivors were attempting to contact someone for help and salvage their illicit cargo, they were deemed lawful enemy combatants.
Still, the hosts of the Sunday morning shows brought in a whole new slate of guests, most of whom continued to hawk the war crimes narrative in any market where they believed it would fly.
On “This Week,” Rep. Adam Smith raised the question of land strikes in Venezuela, complaining that President Donald Trump’s administration — the War Department in particular — had not kept him and others in Congress in the loop.
“They have not kept us informed on this, they did not inform us of these strikes,” he said.
Rep. Adam Smith tells George Stephanopoulos that he has not been briefed on the possibility of land strikes in Venezuela. Referring to the Department of Defense, he said: “They have not kept us informed on this, they did not inform us of these strikes.” pic.twitter.com/K7SoJZoCdk
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 7, 2025
Smith also called for the public release of video from the strike in question, claiming that President Donald Trump was trying to avoid doing so.
Rep. Adam Smith calls for the release of the videos shown to lawmakers of U.S. strikes against one suspected drug boat on Sept. 2. pic.twitter.com/AtDV1HPtg3
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 7, 2025
Following the release of the Inspector General’s report — regarding Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to share information about a strike on Houthi terrorists — Smith also suggested that the War Secretary wasn’t taking the right approach: “It’s perfectly okay to look back at past actions and say, ‘Yeah, I didn’t do that right.'”
Rep. Adam Smith criticizes Sec. Hegseth’s response to the inspector general’s report on the alleged release of sensitive information on the Signal messaging app.
“It’s perfectly okay to look back at past actions and say, ‘Yeah, I didn’t do that right.’” pic.twitter.com/eIjxnABn3b
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 7, 2025
On CBS News, Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) constructed what was supposed to look like a thought experiment, behind which he hid an attack on Admiral Bradley’s character.
“Anyone who has ever worked with Admiral Bradley will tell you that he has a storied career and that he is a man of deep, deep integrity. And frankly, I have no reason to doubt that,” Himes said before pivoting to wonder aloud whether Bradley might compromise that integrity under pressure. “What happens when an apparently good man like Admiral Bradley is placed in a context where he knows that if he countermands an order that he is perhaps uncomfortable with, it is very likely that he will be fired? It’s interesting to think about how a good man in that context maybe does something that if he weren’t in that context he might not do.”
On the alleged Venezuelan drug boat strikes, @margbrennan asked Rep. @jahimes (D-CT) if he has confidence in Admiral Bradley.
“Anyone who has ever worked with Admiral Bradley will tell you that he has a storied career and that he is a man of deep, deep integrity. And frankly, I… pic.twitter.com/Lv7AhPQYa1
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 7, 2025
Himes also claimed that the people on the boats were likely low-level drug runners, meaning that the cartel bosses were not necessarily feeling the sting.
Rep. @jahimes (D-CT) tells @margbrennan he does not believe all the identities of those on the alleged Venezuelan drug boats are known. He says the U.S. strikes are hitting low-level operatives, not high-ranking cartel leaders, leaving the top figures in comfortable villas while… pic.twitter.com/fec6gEQjI5
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 7, 2025
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) used back on “This Week,” however.
Democrats “have such X-ray vision and clairvoyance that they know the intentions of narco-terrorists on boats, yet were so blind to see that they had a President for four years that was operating as a vegetable… Forgive me if I’m a little skeptical,” he declared.
.@SenEricSchmitt: Democrats “have such X-ray vision and clairvoyance that they know the intentions of narco-terrorists on boats, yet were so blind to see that they had a President for four years that was operating as a vegetable… Forgive me if I’m a little skeptical.” 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fgyMRbrnel
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 7, 2025
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