Wisconsin voters have recently criticized Republican U.S. Representative Derrick Van Orden after he claimed that attacking alleged drug boats “saves American lives.” To many Wisconsin residents, his claims were largely untrue, and he had provided no proof that any Americans would actually be saved by taking the lives of people who had not even been legally proven to be criminals.
During a recent interview with Newsmax, Van Orden commented on the recent airstrikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean. He acknowledged that “a lot of people are complaining about air strikes against drug boats.” However, the representative also claimed that these actions saved Americans from dying from overdoses.
He also claimed that more Americans have died from drug overdoses than in wars, deeming it a “serious issue” and claiming that the Trump administration was the first to do something about it.
Wisconsin Residents Criticize Derrick Van Orden
Van Orden’s comments did not sit well with many Wisconsin residents on r/Wisconsin, who disagreed that these actions were actually saving any lives. One of them wrote: “When has a republican ever shown evidence towards anything? It’s all just vibes and fear-mongering.” Others agreed: “No American lives were saved by killing fishermen.”
Others also criticized his remarks: “As long as the war crimes save lives in the country that’s doing them, they’re ok? Am I correctly boiling his point down? And to expand it, anything that’s done which ‘saves lives’ would be justifiable?”
Someone else added: “No, they really aren’t. Even if these are truly ‘drug boats,’ which I have low confidence in, the drugs they would be transporting are generally not coming here, and destroying the drugs they might in theory be transporting won’t make a significant dent in the amount we get. Regardless, there are better, more LEGAL ways to handle these supposed “drug boats” than simply blowing them away without due process.”
What really irritated some locals was that, in their view, the entire logic went against the Constitution: “Except it goes against the Constitution and those folks’ right to due process. I really wish people who constantly squawk about the Constitution actually read it.”
Overall, most people were angry with Van Orden and disapproved of his approach to what they considered a crime. One resident summarized the overall sentiment toward Van Orden’s actions: “More American lives would be saved by having universal healthcare or providing food and housing to those in need than could be saved in 1000 years of a ‘War on Drugs.’”
