Fox News Pundit: US-Run Venezuela Fits Trump’s ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ Plan Perfectly

Fox News correspondent Jason Chaffetz said President Donald Trump’s plan to “run” Venezuela after capturing dictator Nicolás Maduro fits perfectly with the president’s pledge to “drill, baby, drill.”

Trump shared his oil mantra several times heading into his second term, including using the phrase during his inauguration speech last year. Chaffetz told The Big Weekend Show on Sunday that with Maduro out of the way, Trump took a “huge step” toward that goal — and driving down the cost of goods and making America more safe in the process.

“Donald Trump started out with the whole premise is that we’re going to be energy independent; we are going to ‘Drill, baby, drill’; we are going to make sure we’re self-sufficient; we’re going to drive down the cost of goods and make manufacturing good for the United States of America,” he said. “That is ‘America First.’ That’s what he was elected to do.”

The former conservative representative from Utah concluded by saying there was an “added benefit” to the operation — one less “narco-terrorist” in the world.

His comments come after Trump didn’t shy away from oil being a key aspect of U.S. intervention in Venezuela.

The president told reporters on Saturday the U.S. would “get the oil flowing the way it should be” because America had “built that whole industry there.”

That has upset many Democrats like Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), who complained about it to CNN’s Jessica Dean on Sunday evening. Coons said Trump’s tone sounded “more like a mob boss than a president of a democracy.”

And while many Venezuelans celebrated in the U.S. and abroad, many anti-Trump Americans voiced their displeasure at protests this weekend.

One sign at a protest in Denver said “Stop Killing for Oil. Regime Change Starts at Home.” Another protester scribbled “Free Maduro” on their black truck at the same protest.

Watch Chaffetz above.

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