JD Vance on Sunday scrambled to answer a common question about the Trump administration's motives for attacking Venezuela.
The notion that Venezuela was a target due to fentanyl has been a common theme since Trump first began ordering military strikes on ships from that region. It has been pushed forward or at least allowed to slip by, but statistics have shown Venezuela produces almost none of that drug.
Vance over the weekend attempted to explain this clear contradiction.
"You see a lot claims that Venezuela has nothing to do with drugs because most of the fentanyl comes from elsewhere. I want to address this: First off, fentanyl isn't the only drug in the world and there is still fentanyl coming from Venezuela (or at least there was)," the V.P. claimed. "Second, cocaine, which is the main drug trafficked out of Venezuela, is a profit center for all of the Latin America cartels. If you cut out the money from cocaine (or even reduce it) you substantially weaken the cartels overall. Also, cocaine is bad too!"
He then went on to admit where fentanyl comes from.
"Third, yes, a lot of fentanyl is coming out of Mexico. That continues to be a focus of our policy in Mexico and is a reason why President Trump shut the border on day one," he wrote Sunday. "Fourth, I see a lot of criticism about oil. About 20 years ago, Venezuela expropriated American oil property and until recently used that stolen property to get rich and fund their narcoterrorist activities. I understand the anxiety over the use of military force, but are we just supposed to allow a communist to steal our stuff in our hemisphere and do nothing? Great powers don't act like that. The United States, thanks to President Trump's leadership, is a great power again. Everyone should take note."