Democrats Past Statements Show Hypocrisy On Successful Maduro Apprehension

THE CAPTURE OF MADRUO WAS AN UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS BY AMERICA’S LAW ENFORCEMENT AND MILITARY TO PROTECT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

• The raid to capture narco-terrorist Nicolas Maduro showed immense strength from the United States through President Trump’s leadership.
• The United States does not recognize Nicolas Maduro as the legitimate ruler of Venezuela as he falsely declared himself the winner in 2024 election.
• America is not alone in this claim as other Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Panama and others, as well as the European Union refused to recognize the 2024 election results in Venezuela.
• The operation was immensely successful as the United States suffered minimal casualties and zero deaths while taking out dozens of enemy combatants and snatching Maduro and his wife from their compound.
• In 2020, the Department of Justice indicted Maduro on charges that he and other Venezuelan officials ran a corrupt narco-terrorism conspiracy to traffic cocaine and other drugs and weapons into the United States.

o The Biden administration raised the reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro to $25 million.

DEMOCRATS PREVIOUSLY SAID OBAMA AND BIDEN DID NOT NEED CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL TO CONDUCT AN OPERATION LIKE THIS

• For years during the Obama and Biden administrations, Democrats routinely said the president had the power and authority to conduct military strikes abroad without Congressional approval.
• Joe Biden conducted military strikes in Yemen , Iraq, and Somalia.
• Barack Obama conducted military strikes in Libya , Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan , Yemen, Somalia, and Iraq.
• Democrats at the time said Obama and Biden had the authority to conduct these military operations without seeking Congressional approval.
• Democrats backed Obama’s decision to strike Gaddafi in Libya in 2011 without congressional approval.
• Then-Senate majority leader Harry Reid in 2011: “The War Powers Act has no application to what’s going on in Libya…We have no troops on the ground there and this thing’s gonna be over before you know it anyway so I think it’s not necessary…I’d much rather have Gaddafi gone…The sooner he goes, the better off.”
• Then-House minority leader Nancy Pelosi in 2011: Reporter: “You’re saying the President did not need authorization initially and still does not need any authorization from Congress on Libya?” Pelosi: “Yes.”
• Democrats believed Obama did not need to seek congressional approval if he wanted to strike Syria in 2013.
• Then-Secretary of State John Kerry in 2013: “The president, as you know, retains the authority, always has the authority, had the authority to strike before coming to Congress and that doesn’t change.”
• Nancy Pelosi in 2013: “I don't think that the congressional authorization is necessary. [in Syria].”
• In 2014, Democrats backed Obama’s strikes against ISIS referencing his Article II authority.
• Senator Tim Kaine in 2014: “The president always has the power under Article II to use any forces including ground forces to repel an imminent threat to the United States.”
• Senator Ben Cardin in 2014: “You have Article II power, the president has Article II power. So he always has the right for a short period of time to defend the interests of this nation as he sees fit, and that’s his responsibility as commander in chief.”
• Rep. Adam Smith in 2014 ran cover for Obama not seeking congressional authority for strikes in Iraq and Syria, saying it’s “odd that members of Congress are complaining that the President’s not asking for it [authority]. He doesn’t run the Legislative branch!”
• Nancy Pelosi in 2014: “I believe…that a president does not need any additional congressional authority to act upon measures to protect our national security.”
• Joe Biden defended his strikes on the Iraq-Syria border in 2021 citing the power granted to him by Article II.
• Joe Biden in 2021: “I directed last night's airstrikes targeting sites used by the Iranian backed militia groups responsible for recent attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq. And I have that authority under Article II; and even those up on the Hill who are reluctant to acknowledge that, acknowledge that's the case.”
• Jen Psaki in 2021: “Article II, the self-defense, the defense of the United States and our interests is our domestic justification for these strikes announced yesterday.”

DEMOCRATS LOVE MADURO AFTER CALLING HIM A THREAT FOR YEARS

• ​​​Democrats are refusing to admit America is a safer place now that Maduro is no longer in power.
• Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer refused to say it's a "good thing" Maduro is in U.S. custody.
• House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries: "There’s been no evidence…to justify the actions that were taken."
• House Democrat Whip Katherine Clark: "The American people deserve better."
• California Rep. Ted Lieu: Capturing Maduro "weakens America."
• California Rep. Ro Khanna: "We need to have a reckoning in this country about our values."
• Colorado Rep. Jason Crow: "Nothing that happened this past weekend is making the lives of Americans better."
• Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy: "It has nothing to do with American national security...Venezuela is not a security threat to the United States."
• Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes whined that he wasn’t notified about the raid: "Still haven't gotten a phone call."
• Vermont Rep. Becca Balint: "Look, I’m angry... this was not necessary."
• The DNC rushed to send out a fundraising email quickly after Maduro's capture to criticize the highly successful operation.
• Trump Derangement Syndrome is real, as Democrats for years have been calling Maduro illegitimate and a dictator.
• In 2019, Chris Murphy tweeted "If Trump cared about consistency, he would make the realist case for intervention in Venezuela (getting rid of Maduro is good for the United States)."
• Nevada Democrat Rep. Dina Titus once called the Maduro regime “dark” and said he needed to face accountability.
• Now she calls the operation to apprehend him “bizarre and dangerous .”
• Illinois Democrat Senator Tammy Duckworth once called Maduro a “brutal dictator.”
• Now she refers to him as a “foreign leader .”
• Joe Biden once tweeted "Trump talks tough on Venezuela, but admires thugs and dictators like Nicolás Maduro. As President, I will stand with the Venezuelan people and for democracy.”
• Chuck Schumer said “And the President brags about his Venezuela policy. Give us a break. He hasn’t brought an end to the Maduro regime. The Maduro regime is more powerful today and more entrenched today than it was when the President began.”
• Now he calls the operation “reckless.”
• Dick Durbin said in 2019: “The people of Venezuela deserve better than this. We can’t allow this President’s short attention span to stop us from delivering on our promise to help the Venezuelan people rebuild their country… Though President Trump may seem ready to throw in the towel, I stand committed to aiding the people of Venezuela.”
• Now he says, “I disagree with President Trump’s use of U.S. military forces without Congressional approval & worry deeply about this Admin’s follow through on foreign policy interventions.”
• In 2024 Maryland Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen said “Obviously, we know Maduro and his cronies do not want to go quietly into the night, but the United States needs to work with its partners and allies in the region to ratchet up the pressure.”
• Now he calls the operation “an illegal act of war to replace Maduro.”
• After a Venezuelan judge ordered the arrest of Maduro’s opposition candidate in 2024, Tim Kaine said “This is a deeply concerning development for Venezuelans and for the entire region, since instability abroad impacts us here at home, too.”
• Now he claims, “President Trump’s unauthorized military attack on Venezuela to arrest Maduro… is a sickening return to a day when the United States asserted the right to dominate the internal political affairs of all nations in the Western Hemisphere.”
• Massachusetts Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2019 said “Maduro is a dictator and a crook who has wrecked his country’s economy, dismantled its democratic institutions, and profited while his people suffer. The United States should lead the international community in addressing Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis and supporting regional efforts to negotiate a political transition.”
• Now she says, “The American people voted for lower costs, not for Trump’s dangerous military adventurism overseas that won’t make the American people safer.”
• Maryland Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin claimed “The democratic world must stand up for the rule of law in Venezuela and oppose Maduro’s assault on the electoral process and free speech. The right-wing attack on democratic institutions anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere.”
• Now he says “Trump is not only violating our Constitution, but he is shredding the rules-based international order created after World War II, whose essential building block is the political sovereignty and territorial integrity of each nation.”
• Florida Democrat Rep. Darren Soto claimed he wanted to “Bring[ing] democracy back to Venezuela.”
• Soto now says “Trump’s trading one dictator for another just to get oil? This will do NOTHING to help my constituents’ family members who just lost their TPS and still can’t return home.”
• Democrats privately admit that it is a good thing Maduro is being brought to justice.
• One Democrat in Congress said, "Maduro is bad, glad he is gone ... You can't have it both ways."
• Another vulnerable House Democrat said: "As Democrats we can't just condemn what happened ... I wish the Democratic Party would be a little bit more measured on this."
• "I think it looks weak," a third House Democrat said. "If you don't acknowledge when there is a win for our country, then you lose all credibility."
• "What happened to when they had the election and Maduro stole the election? There were Democrats condemning that," the House Democrat said.
• The third House Democrat said they were surprised "how negative the response has been" from their colleagues.

PRESIDENT TRUMP WILL ALWAYS PROTECT THE HOMELAND FROM OUR ENEMIES

• Illegal drug overdose deaths have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans throughout the years.
• Venezuela, through the rule of dictators Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, made the country a major hub of drug trafficking .
• President Trump’s actions to destroy narco-terrorists trafficking in illegal drugs through our borders and seas have saved countless lives.
• The President has rightfully pledged to reassert the Monroe Doctrine to ward off foreign adversaries from interfering in the Western Hemisphere, further embodying his Peace through Strength approach.