The Democratic Party’s gripes with President Trump are many, yet the latest may be the most bizarre to date. One Senator argued that Trump’s brash personality bungled a perfectly good, American-style coup in Venezuela.
If Senator Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) had his way, opposition leader Juan Guaido would be occupying the Presidential Palace in Caracas right now, after the successful ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Despite the weight the US threw behind Guaido last year, the young upstart’s planned coup was a failure, and Murphy blames Trump for that loss.
3/ The winning play was right in front of us – bring together all of Latin America behind a transition or new, free elections, and take the time to work with or neutralize Maduro’s patrons (Russia, Cuba, and to a lesser extent China).
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) August 4, 2020
As the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the debacle on Tuesday, Murphy laid out his list of complaints against the coup-bungler-in-chief. First, Trump failed to persuade Russia, Cuba, and China to abandon Maduro. Regarding Russia, Murphy claimed the President was “wrapped around” Vladimir Putin’s finger, and on China, Murphy scolded Trump for prioritizing US trade issues over interventionist adventures abroad.
4/ But Trump couldn’t talk to Cuba (bc Obama), Putin had Trump wrapped around his finger, and all Trump wanted to talk to China about was the trade deal. So we made no meaningful effort to move them, and all three stood solidly behind Maduro.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) August 4, 2020
What followed, Murphy said, was a “running comedy of errors,” from agitating for a failed uprising last April without securing military support for Guaido, to appointing open regime-change enthusiast Elliott Abrams as envoy to Venezuela, to having former national security advisor John Bolton issue vague threats of war at the Latin American country.
All valid points for any would-be coup plotter to bear in mind. Yet hearing Trump criticized by a Democrat for failing to overthrow a foreign leader by the book is a strange new development in the party’s ‘Orange Man Bad’ rhetoric.
Murphy was “furious” that America under Trump lost its “natural right” to control who governs Venezuela, journalist Glenn Greenwald remarked.
This thread is a masterclass in "humanitarian" liberal interventionism. The problem with Trump's Venezuela policy, argues Murphy, is not that he attempted to overthrow the government, but that his crass diplomatic style squandered a golden opportunity to overthrow the government https://t.co/phO7yiVuO0
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) August 4, 2020
Socialist commentator Tom Wojcik quipped that Democrats under Biden will “aggressively prioritize and more competently mount another VZ coup,” all in the name of rewriting the legacy of Trump.
Last thing I’ll say, Democrats will aggressively prioritize and more competently mount another VZ coup under Biden because they believe a successful Venezuelan coup will be, amongst other things, a refutiation of Trump. https://t.co/GVZ28gJnBy
— Tom Wojcik