Patriot Brief
Debbie Wasserman Schultz broke with many Democrats to praise President Donald Trump’s capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.
Florida lawmakers across party lines largely supported the operation, reflecting local diaspora sentiment.
National Democrats split sharply, with critics calling the action unconstitutional and dangerous.
This is what happens when foreign policy collides with reality instead of talking points. Debbie Wasserman Schultz didn’t suddenly become a Trump ally — she became a representative listening to her district. In South Florida, where Venezuelan exile isn’t an abstraction but a neighbor, the removal of Nicolás Maduro isn’t controversial. It’s personal.
Wasserman Schultz’s reaction exposes a fracture Democrats would rather keep hidden. On one side are lawmakers far removed from the consequences of socialism, happy to debate process and posture about congressional prerogatives. On the other are representatives whose constituents fled a regime defined by violence, corruption, and economic collapse. For them, Maduro isn’t a theoretical dictator — he’s the reason families were torn apart.
That’s why the outrage from figures like Adam Schiff and Ruben Gallego rings hollow in Florida. Calling the operation a “war” ignores the administration’s own description and the fact that Maduro’s regime has long operated as a criminal enterprise. Republicans didn’t frame this as nation-building. They framed it as law enforcement backed by strength.
What’s striking is that Democrats who actually face Venezuelan voters understood the moment instantly. Wasserman Schultz and Darren Soto didn’t celebrate chaos; they celebrated accountability and the possibility — however fragile — of a free Venezuela.
This episode shows the limits of ideological reflexes. When faced with a dictator who exported crime, narcotics, and misery, even long-time Democratic leaders found it harder to pretend moral clarity lives only in restraint. For Venezuelans watching from exile, the debate in Washington matters less than the fact that, for once, someone acted.
From Western Journal:
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a South Florida Democrat with a sizable Venezuelan population in her district, bucked her party Saturday to praise President Donald Trump’s capture of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Wasserman Schultz said the U.S. military operation removing Maduro from power is “welcome news” for the millions of Venezuelans living in exile, though she argued Congress should have been informed. Conversely, a chorus of congressional Democrats immediately slammed the successful military operation as illegal and contrary to American interests.
“The capture of the brutal, illegitimate ruler of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, who oppressed Venezuela’s people is welcome news for my friends and neighbors who fled his violent, lawless, and disastrous rule,” Wasserman Schultz wrote on X Saturday morning.
The South Florida Democrat, who notably chaired the Democratic National Committee from 2011 to 2016, also called for a “liberated Venezuela” featuring democratic rule, arguing “cutting off the head of a snake is fruitless if it just regrows.”
“This action offers beleaguered Venezuelans a chance to seat their true, democratically elected president, Edmundo González,” Wasserman Schultz continued.
Democratic Florida Rep. Darren Soto, who represents a district south of Orlando, similarly lauded the operation as a “major step towards a #VenezuelaLibre,” referring to a “Free Venezuela” in a Saturday X post. However, Soto also chided the president for failing to seek congressional approval, which the Trump administration has argued was not necessary.
Other congressional Democrats, who have tried to restrict Trump’s authority to use military force on Venezuela for months, excoriated the military operation.
“Second unjustified war in my life time. This war is illegal, it’s embarrassing that we went from the world cop to the world bully in less than one year,” Democratic Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego wrote on X shortly after 3:00 a.m. Saturday. “There is no reason for us to be at war with Venezuela.”
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Photo Credit: (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
