Beau of The Fifth Column
Let's talk about Trump’s claim of lives saved due to boat strikes....
24 Oct 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Well, howdy there, Internet people. It's Belle again. So today, we're going to talk about Trump's claim of lives saved due to boat strikes.
Trump made a pretty bold claim recently, and as is typically the case, he failed to provide any evidence to back up his amazing claim that demonstrates how great he is.
Chapter 2: What bold claim did Trump make about lives saved due to boat strikes?
But luckily, it's math, so we can see if his claim holds up to even the most basic scrutiny. It's important to remember that Trump strikes on Venezuelan boats are highly controversial and legally dubious. Okay, so what did he say? On October 5th, he said, quote, Every one of those boats is responsible for the death of 25,000 American people and the destruction of families.
So when you think of it that way, what we're doing is actually an act of kindness. Zap Brannigan voice, please. It's uncanny. On the 7th, he said, quote, The water drugs, the drugs that come in through water, they're not coming.
Chapter 3: How can we evaluate the validity of Trump's claim about lives saved?
There are no boats anymore. Frankly, there are no fishing boats. There's no boats out there, period. We've probably saved at least 100,000 lives. Okay, what could he mean by this? Obviously, ODs. Maybe drug-related homicides. Let's give him both. CDC numbers show between 80,000 and 105,000 OD deaths each year in the U.S. So, let's just give him all of those.
I know, you're saying that not even near all of those are from illicit substances from south of the border. Whatever, doesn't matter. Give him all of those. There's about 20,000 homicides a year. Only about 18% are drug-related, according to the DOJ. It's okay. Give him all of them. Let's just call it 120,000 total. There's been at least seven strikes, using Trump's math of 25,000 per strike.
That means 175,000 lives saved.
Chapter 4: What controversial aspects surround Trump's strikes on Venezuelan boats?
giving him absurdly favorable numbers as his baseline. Trump's math will apparently result in zero ODs or homicides this year and bring at least 55,000 people back to life. That seems incredibly unlikely. This math, of course, doesn't pan out in any way.
There's literally no way to suggest his numbers are anything other than an attempt to justify military action in an attempt to cast himself as tough. Somebody will undoubtedly want to say, but it would include Canada too. Go ahead and give him those too. Adding Canada's numbers would simply reduce the number of resurrected by a little bit.
While the math here is plain, it's probably worth mentioning that Trump's numerical claims are often cited as evidence on everything from the economy to education to disease. Don't do that. If there's anything this little word problem can demonstrate plainly, it's that Republicans believing Trump's numbers are falling into a trap predicted a long time ago.
In the end, the party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later. The logic of their position demanded it. Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.