Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) forcefully pushed back Tuesday after a reporter attempted to compare cartel-linked drug-running vessels to ordinary “fishing boats,” prompting a sharp exchange over U.S. enforcement actions at sea.
The back-and-forth, captured on video by Daily Caller News Foundation reporter Caden Olson, came as Democrats and media critics question recent U.S. actions against vessels tied to international drug trafficking.
The reporter asked whether nonviolent tactics used to seize an oil tanker should have been applied to boats targeted during anti-narcotics operations.
“If you can seize a tanker without killing anyone, shouldn’t that… If you can seize an oil tanker without killing anyone, shouldn’t that have been the way that these fishing boats were also stopped?” the reporter asked.
“Fishing boats? What is a fishing boat? The drug runners?” Schmitt responded.
“The drug runners,” the reporter said.
“Those aren’t fishing boats,” Schmitt replied.
The reporter attempted to continue, but Schmitt cut back in.
“Those aren’t fishing boats,” he repeated.
When the reporter pressed again, Schmitt shifted to the legal authority underpinning the actions.
“Okay. Well, let’s talk about Article II authority. The President, the Commander in Chief, has identified and designated terrorist organizations cartels who run drugs that kill 100,000 Americans a year,” Schmitt said.
“There’s no legal question that he has the authority to blow those boats out of the water, and they will continue.”
Schmitt then drew a distinction between military action and sanctions enforcement.
“This, however these were economic sanctions by the President, as delegated by Congress,” he said. “Those were enforced by civil authorities with the aid of the U.S. Navy. We’re talking about two very different things.”
The senator closed by rejecting any sympathy for cartel-linked traffickers.
“But if you’re asking me if I have sympathy for narco-terrorists killing Americans, whose boats are carrying the drugs that kill Americans, I don’t,” Schmitt said. “I have sympathy for my neighbors in Missouri who’ve been poisoned, who die.”
WATCH: Sen. @Eric_Schmitt CLAPS BACK at reporter.
REPORTER: If you can seize an oil tanker without killing anyone, shouldn’t that have been the way that these fishing boats were also stopped?
SCHMITT: Fishing boats?! What is a fishing boat? The drug runners?
REPORTER: If you can seize an oil tanker without killing anyone, shouldn’t that have been the way that these fishing boats were also stopped?
SCHMITT: Fishing boats?! What is a fishing boat? The drug runners?
REPORTER:… pic.twitter.com/Zl73p3KLFY
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 11, 2025
“We finally have a President who cares about them more than Democrats care about going down to El Salvador to drink margaritas with terrorists. That’s how I feel about it.”
U.S. officials have said the vessels targeted in recent operations are not civilian fishing boats, but fast-moving platforms used by transnational cartels to move massive quantities of narcotics toward the United States. Authorities say the drug boats are often outfitted for long-range smuggling, staffed by cartel operatives, and used exclusively to transport drugs fueling the fentanyl crisis.
The Trump administration has argued that treating those vessels as anything other than hostile trafficking assets only emboldens cartels responsible for tens of thousands of American deaths each year and that disrupting drug routes at sea is a critical front in the fight against fentanyl.
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