House Democrat Battles Martha MacCallum Over Venezuela: ‘That’s Actually Not True’

Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) argued with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, days after President Donald Trump authorized the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro appeared in federal court in New York on Monday and pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges. But on Sunday, Trump revealed he is interested in Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and said he informed top oil executives about Maduro’s forthcoming ouster ahead of time. The president also suggested that the U.S. will pay oil companies to rebuild Venezuela’s energy sector.

“A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue,” he told NBC News.

On Monday’s edition of The Story on Fox News, Crow said that while Venezuela is better off without Maduro, it is not the job of the U.S. to run the country.

“Do Americans want us to be doing this, to be running and controlling and occupying Venezuela?” he asked. “Is that in our interest? Does that make health care cheaper? Does that make housing cheaper? Does that make us stronger as a country? And after 20 years of quagmire and failed nation-building–”

“We don’t have anyone on the ground,” MacCallum interrupted. “This operation, it was less than two and a half hours long. It’s much more similar to what we did with Noriega in Panama or even what President Obama did with Gaddafi in Libya. This is an extraction operation. He’s the head of the snake, and the snake is still there to a certain extent. But isn’t it better to remove the head, at least to start the process?”

“We don’t know that,” Crow replied. “That’s the point.”

MacCallum responded by vaguely claiming that most drug overdoses in the U.S. come from “Venezuela and other places.”

“You have about 100,000 Americans dying of drug overdoses,” she said. “Most of those drugs coming from Venezuela and other places. Colombia certainly as well–”

“That’s actually not true,” Crow objected. “The majority of the deaths by drugs in America are the result of meth and fentanyl. Almost none of that comes from Venezuela.”

“So, you’re ok with massive amounts of cocaine traffic coming into the United States from Venezuela?” she asked.

“No, I’m not saying that either,” the lawmaker responded. “What I’m saying is if we want a real drug strategy, if we want to stop fentanyl and meth largely killing our children and devastating our communities, then we need a real drug strategy to do that. Actually going and deposing a foreign leader and capturing them and now saying we’re going to run the country, as Donald Trump said on Saturday, is not gonna stop that.”

Watch above via Fox News.