A CNN panel launched into a heated back-and-forth over the legality of President Donald Trump’s strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats.
On CNN’s NewsNight, anchor Abby Phillip brought the controversy of Trump’s strikes to the table. The U.S. military announced just on Tuesday it would lay waste to multiple new boats in the Pacific Ocean it accused of drug smuggling.
The bombings have received some bipartisan backlash, mainly from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), calling them “extrajudicial killings” with no oversight or due process.
“When the government just says, we can kill whoever we want because we’re telling you that they’re bad guys, isn’t that a bad precedent to set?” Phillip asked Republican Betsy McCaughey, who defended Trump’s strikes.
“That’s a preposterous question!” McCaughey said, insisting that proof of the drug smuggling will be revealed in due time.
McCaughey argued that those being targeted are “foreign combatants” and not entitled to due process, while Phillip and others called for proof.
Phillip eventually asked if she even knew the kind of “drugs” on board, considering the lack of information on the strikes.
“What drugs are we even talking about?” she asked after CNN commentator Bakari Sellers pressed the panelists in support, including New York Post columnist Lydia Moynihan, on the same point.
“I’d like the government to supply that information, but to suggest that Trump is becoming an authoritarian military dictator over this is preposterous,” McCaughey said.
Check out the exchange below:
ABBY PHILLIP: When the government just says, we can kill whoever we want because we’re telling you that they’re bad guys, isn’t that a bad precedent to set?
BETSY MCCAUGHEY: That’s a preposterous question!
PHILLIP: Not just for you, not just for those people, because I don’t know who those people are.
MCCAUGHEY: These are foreign combatants.
PHILLIP: But what if the government said that and it was not the government you supported?
LYDIA MOYNIHAN: There’s no transparency with the Biden administration. Trump is at least letting us know what’s happening and they have promised more information.
PHILLIP: But, Lydia, last time I looked we didn’t have this scenario in the Biden administration. I mean, I think everybody would be raking them over the coals if they were striking boats on a daily basis without providing a shred of evidence of who they were striking. What kind of drugs were they carrying? Where were they going? I mean these are really important questions, don’t you think?
BAKARI SELLERS: I’m curious because I’ve always wanted to know how people who are diametrically opposed to me on issues think, so do you want to know if they had drugs? Do you want to know where they were going or coming from do you? Do you ant to know who they were do you wanna know who there that see do you care about?
PHILLIP: Betsy, do you want to know?
MCCAUGHEY: Information is going to be provided. In the meantime, Rand Paul has gone to Congress and he’s expecting to get, and I think he will get, a bipartisan resolution asking Congress to give permission to Trump to conduct this kind of activity. That’s a good step. But nevertheless, Trump realizes, I believe, that his duty is to keep these drugs out of the United States.
PHILLIP: But what drugs are we even talking about… You said that the drugs that are killing all those hundreds of thousands of Americans, well, that drug is fentanyl. So the reason I’m asking you, do you even know what drugs we’re talking?
MCCAUGHEY: I’d like the government to supply that information, but to suggest that Trump is becoming an authoritarian military dictator over this is preposterous.
Watch above via CNN.
The post ‘That’s a Preposterous Question!’ CNN Panel Clashes Over Trump’s Strikes On Alleged Drug Boats first appeared on Mediaite.
‘That’s a Preposterous Question!’ CNN Panel Clashes Over Trump’s Strikes On Alleged Drug Boats THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2025-10-29 05:41:52 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
