U.S. Sen. John Fetterman has again distanced himself from fellow Democrats, this time in support of last weekend’s military invasion that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“Removing Maduro was positive for Venezuela. As a Democrat, I don’t understand why we can’t acknowledge a good development for Venezuelans — and how deft our military’s execution of that plan was,” Braddock’s Fetterman said in an X post Tuesday night.
Two minutes later, Mike Mikus, a longtime Democratic strategist from South Fayette, replied, “Dude, you haven’t been a Democrat for the last 14 months.”
Later in the evening, Conor Lamb, a former congressman from Mt. Lebanon who was defeated by Fetterman in the 2022 Democratic primary, weighed in: “The main issue is invading another country for its oil, which the President now wants to get the money from, and ignoring you in the Senate, which goes against an important document called the Constitution, plus none of us voted for this.”
It’s the latest example of Fetterman breaking from the Democratic party line to support policies or actions taken by President Donald Trump — and Democrats lashing out at him for doing so.
In an appearance Monday on the Fox News show “Fox & Friends,” Fetterman spoke strongly in favor of the raid and Maduro’s capture.
“We all wanted this man gone, and now he is gone. I think we should really appreciate exactly what happened here,” Fetterman said during the appearance.
“For me, I think Democrats we all used to describe (Maduro) as a dictator or a tyrant or a terrible person. It wasn’t less than a year ago that President Biden raised a bounty (for information leading to Maduro’s arrest) for $25 million,” Fetterman said. “Why have a bounty if you didn’t want him gone?”
Fetterman said he hoped Maduro’s removal would lead to greater stability and prosperity for Venezuelans.
“America is a force of good, order and democracy, and we are promoting these kinds of values. We are the good guys,” Fetterman said.
Other Democratic lawmakers from Western Pennsylvania have spoken out against the invasion and Trump’s assertion that the United States will “run” Venezuela.
”Neither the American people nor the United States Congress has authorized an invasion of Venezuela, a war with Venezuela, or a military occupation of Venezuela,” U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Fox Chapel, posted on X. “We have enough problems here at home in America that President Trump is failing to fix; we do not need a reckless and unconstitutional foreign military occupation that would drain precious American blood and treasure.”
“Maduro is an illegitimate and brutal dictator who stole an election to cling to power. He is hardly alone across the globe, and it is not the American people’s responsibility to launch regime change wars against every foreign despot,” Deluzio added.
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, posted on X: “Invading a foreign country without congressional approval and kidnapping its leader is a blatant violation of U.S. and international law. This sets a dangerous precedent that threatens international stability and security, puts Americans further at risk, and infringes on the sovereignty of foreign countries.”
