RCP co-founder Tom Bevan asked Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott to weigh in on the latest Reagan National Defense Survey showing broad support for the U.S. military targeting “suspected drug traffickers in Latin America.” “Blow them to smithereens,” Scott said during a panel at the 2025 Reagan National Defense Forum this weekend. “I want to stop the drugs. I’m not sure that this is exactly the best way to go about doing it,” Washington state Democratic Rep. Adam Smith said. “And the legality of it does matter. I mean, President Trump has decided that we’re going to have the death penalty for drug dealers, and he’s going to be judge, jury, and executioner with no due process, no probable cause, and no congressional approval.” Scott said: “I am fine with killing drug [dealers], killing people that bring drugs to the country and try to kill my grandkids. I’m fine with it every day.” “If you want to have a boat with a bunch of drugs come to the country, I’m fine if we blow them up,” he said. “Blow them to smithereens.” We have got to stop all these drugs from coming in. Maduro’s Venezuela is “not a country anymore,” Scott said. “He’s not the president of Venezuela. He runs drug cartels. Let’s not even act like he’s the president of the country. He lost the last election. He stole the election before that.”

TOM BEVAN: Of those 10 issues-approval/disapproval of the military-the number one issue, 62% approval, including 36% strongly approving, was, quote: “Using military force against suspected drug traffickers in Latin America and the Caribbean.” Now, obviously, this has been in the news a ton, including this week. Admiral Bradley testified behind closed doors about the Venezuela boat attacks. And so just your perspective on that-and I should note this poll was conducted and completed before this latest round of controversy-but nevertheless shows a very high level of support. And I will also point out, as Rachel just mentioned, there’s a heavy partisan split on this issue as well. But your thoughts? SENATOR RICK SCOTT: Well, first of all, I think Trump’s doing the right thing. I don’t want drugs-I don’t want drugs in this country. And I think these-what Maduro’s done, what Petro’s done-they’ve allowed a lot of drugs into this country. So I don’t think we’ve sold it well enough, why we’re doing it and the impact it’s going to have. I think if you’re the president, your responsibility is to go sell these things. So I think with regard to these boats, I think we ought to stop all the drugs. In my opinion, Maduro needs to be arrested. I mean, he’s under indictment for drug trafficking. I look forward to the day that he’s arrested, he’s imprisoned for the rest of his life-or I’m okay if he goes to Russia or China or Turkey or someplace else. But I think we have to explain to people why we’re doing it. We don’t want drugs in this country. That’s why we want a secure border. And so I just think it’s going to take more time to explain to people this is what we should be doing to stop the drugs. TOM BEVAN: Congressman, you want to weigh in on this? REP. ADAM SMITH: No, I’m good. No. Um, look, I mean, part of the problem is, when you were talking about you look forward to the day when Maduro gets convicted and all that, the first thought that occurred to me is, Yeah, when’s Trump going to pardon him? You know, because we got the guy in Honduras who was running a country and now we’re going to pardon this guy. I mean, what sense does that make? What sense does it make that he pardoned, you know, Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road guy who was convicted of being responsible for laundering billions of dollars in drug money? This guy gets a pardon. So is this about stopping drugs coming into the U.S.? We can have an argument as to whether or not blowing up, what is it, 20–25 boats in the Caribbean is really going to have that impact. But you’ve got to ask the question: is that really what it’s about? And also, the deadliest drug in America is fentanyl. And we’re blowing up cocaine. Not that cocaine isn’t a problem, all right, but it seems to me if you were really focused on it, you’d be focused on the fentanyl aspect of it. So I worry about: one, is this really what’s happening here, or is this more a matter of, as we just saw with the national security strategy, the assertion of dominance over the Western Hemisphere and we want to assert that dominance? I don’t think that’s in the best interests of the American people. So I want to stop the drugs. I’m not sure that this is exactly the best way to go about doing it. And the legality of it does matter. I mean, President Trump has decided that we’re going to have the death penalty for drug dealers, and he’s going to be judge, jury, and executioner with no due process, no probable cause, and no congressional approval. So yeah. And I’m with you on securing the border. We did not do a good job of securing the border when Joe Biden was president-absolutely true. And I think that’s important. There’s a lot more going on here than that. And I think those pieces need to make sense. And I will agree: it needs to be explained a lot better. SENATOR RICK SCOTT: I am fine with killing drug [dealers], killing people that bring drugs to the country and try to kill my grandkids. I’m fine with it every day. If you want-if you want to have a boat with a bunch of drugs come to the country, I’m fine if we blow them up. Blow them to smithereens. We have got to stop all these drugs from coming in. What they’ve done, what Maduro’s-it’s not a country anymore. He’s not the president of Venezuela. He runs drug cartels. Let’s not even act like he’s the president of the country. He lost the last election. He stole the election before that. So, I mean, I think we’ve got to do everything we can. I think what Petro is doing in Colombia is despicable. He’s allowed the production of drugs-unbelievable production of drugs. It’s causing so much unrest in Latin America. So I’m glad that what the president’s done on the southern border, he’s stopped a lot of the fentanyl, but I want all of it stopped.

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