Mike Johnson says boat strike hit "able-bodied" survivors, operation "entirely appropriate"
Source: CBS News
December 11, 2025 / 8:22 PM EST
House Speaker Mike Johnson, after viewing a video of the U.S. military's controversial Sept. 2 boat strikes and receiving a briefing from the commander who oversaw the mission, said Thursday that two initial survivors who were killed in a follow-on strike were "able-bodied," and the attacks were "entirely appropriate."
He reviewed the classified video of the follow-on strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat and was briefed by Adm. Frank Bradley on the operation. Afterward, Johnson told reporters he's satisfied with the intelligence and legality of the operation and said the strikes were conducted in accordance with the law and established protocol. Only a handful of lawmakers the leaders of the House and Senate armed services and intelligence committees have seen the video of the strikes.
The lawmakers agree that two men survived the initial strike and were seen clinging to a piece of the boat and waving, but they disagree about the condition of the survivors and what they may have been trying to do after the strike. Some Democrats and legal experts have argued that a follow-up strike to kill shipwrecked survivors could constitute a war crime. They believe the waving by the survivors could be interpreted as a call for help or an attempt to wave off another strike.
Republicans who have seen the video say the men were uninjured and trying to signal other drug vessels so they could continue their alleged drug running and were therefore legal targets. Adm. Bradley, after consulting a military lawyer who was in the room where the operation was being conducted, ordered another strike that killed the men. Johnson rejected characterizations of the men as helpless survivors and said of them, "They were able-bodied, they were not injured, and they were attempting to recover the contents of the boat, which was full of narcotics."
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-johnson-boat-strike-video-survivors-able-bodied-venezuela/
Whatever dirt they have on this slimy craven dumbass, it MUST BE bad.
So whoever fired on the boat, actually SAW "other drug vessels" in the area that were being "signaled" to and chose to ignore them???
Is THAT what they are trying to say??
The more they lie, the worse their fantastical story gets.
TubbersUK
(1,514 posts)Ray Bruns
(5,930 posts)NotHardly
(2,557 posts)sinkingfeeling
(57,062 posts)Lovie777
(21,576 posts)there were other small boats headed somewhere and the USA ignored them and continued to finalize wiping out that one particular boat additionally killing the two survivors?
Scratches head because that sounds like incompetence and murder.
Paladin
(32,208 posts)Irish_Dem
(79,372 posts)Last edited Fri Dec 12, 2025, 12:03 PM - Edit history (1)
hadEnuf
(3,511 posts)"Able-bodied" after 9 other people and a boat were completely obliterated? And who cares if they were "able-bodied" or not? They were no threat at all.
There are no excuses or scenarios that can possibly justify this. None. It was an execution of civilians who were clinging to wreckage in the ocean.
bronxiteforever
(11,062 posts)Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality construct,characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, persistent antisocial behavior, along with bold, disinhibited, and egocentric traits. These traits are often masked by superficial charm and immunity to stress,.
Johnson called himself Moses. He made it his mission to strip healthcare and food from his own citizens.
He has superficial charm with the vacant smile. He is the perfect speaker for this gilded age
Bengus81
(9,758 posts)into voting for them every fucking election.
travelingthrulife
(4,316 posts)They said, "Because he said he believed and accepted the Lord as his Savior".
They are such easy, easy marks. No wonder they are mad all the time.
Irish_Dem
(79,372 posts)Last edited Fri Dec 12, 2025, 05:01 PM - Edit history (1)
It will be the ruin of this country.
NotHardly
(2,557 posts)Irish_Dem
(79,372 posts)democrank
(12,063 posts)Bullshitter extraordinaire
Kid Berwyn
(22,726 posts)Happily continuing the work of the Turd Reich.
Attilatheblond
(8,144 posts)Kid Berwyn
(22,726 posts)
IronLionZion
(50,728 posts)FakeNoose
(40,005 posts)There seems to be no other explanation. He needs to resign as Speaker because he can't handle the job.
Then again, he could be both.
GiqueCee
(3,309 posts)... suggested in your title are not mutually exclusive concepts. I would say, he is both.
And to think that he kisses his kids with those lying lips... EEUUW.
Skittles
(169,244 posts)that pretty much says it all
maxsolomon
(38,108 posts)That's more important than the plausibility of the lie.
Put out a counterargument and put the onus on the opposition to disprove it.
JohnnyRingo
(20,420 posts)They're in open waters in the Gulf at night.
I shouldn't have to explain why that claim is absurd, and neither should anyone in Congress. Show us the video of these other drug boats that were so near they could see men in the water waving. Why did they let all those "other drug boats" pass safely?
rubbersole
(10,962 posts)His doublespeak won't work there, either.
SSJVegeta
(2,240 posts)surfered
(11,106 posts)Abstractartist
(409 posts)Ok so then lets ask trump and all his shitstain ilk if its ok to kill the foreign survivors, then will they say its ok if happens to their grandsons and granddaughters?
Escurumbele
(4,001 posts)What a puppet, a great example of a fake christian who wraps himself with religion while enabling crimes against humanity, he summarizes what the republican party represents.
Attilatheblond
(8,144 posts)Joinfortmill
(19,908 posts)GiqueCee
(3,309 posts)... Republican Party should be history. A Confederacy of Dunces, seasoned with a generous dollop of homicidal psychopaths, and leavened with a thick layer of pathological liars.
Irish_Dem
(79,372 posts)Anyone who can not make him richer has to go.
RedWhiteBlueIsRacist
(1,729 posts)travelingthrulife
(4,316 posts)Harker
(17,287 posts)at Malmédy were largely "able bodied" too.
kysrsoze
(6,407 posts)littlemissmartypants
(31,437 posts)Characteristics of Psychopaths
1. Aggressive, callous, and cunning
2. Complete absence of conscience and empathy
3. Very adept at manipulating others
4. Willingness to engage in immoral, criminal conduct
5. Willingness to take what they want and do as they please, regardless of who is hurt or wronged
6. Deceptive ability to appear outwardly benevolent
7. Deceptive ability to behave in superficially charming ways to hide purely selfish motives
8. Willingness to use intimidation and violence to control others in order to satisfy their own needs
9. Willingness to intentionally violate the basic inherent human rights of others
10. Complete absence of any sense of guilt or remorse for the harm their actions have caused to others
11. Rationalization of their own immoral behavior
12. Will attempt to lay blame upon someone else for their own conduct
13. Denial, will deny their own wrongdoing outright
14. Utter contemptuousness toward the feelings and desires of their fellow beings
15. Pathological lying, will say anything without any concern for truth to advance their own hidden agendas
16. Ablity to feign [fake] normal human emotions and empathy
17. Distorted sense of the consequences of their actions
18. Total failure to accept any responsibility for their own socially irresponsible ways
19. Strong bellef that they will never be brought to justice for their criminal behavior
NotHardly
(2,557 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(105,496 posts)It's what Johnson's Jesus would do. I think anyone interviewing him should ask why he thinks his attitude is compatible with calling himself a Christian.