House Democrat Who Praised Trump’s Maduro Operation Slams Him for Letting ‘Cronies’ Run Venezuela

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) was thrilled on Saturday at the news “brutal” dictator Nicolás Maduro had been captured. But two days later, she is upset with President Donald Trump’s plans for Venezuela.

Wasserman Schultz told CNN on Monday that the elation she and many other Floridians felt had already shifted to “cautious optimism” — and was fast approaching “real concern.” She said it was disturbing that Trump was going to allow Maduro’s “cronies” to lead the country, despite the president saying the U.S. will “run” Venezuela for the time being.

“Things actually appear to have gotten worse not better [in Venezuela], and that has to be the focus,” she told anchor Boris Sanchez. “We need a transition to democracy. We need to make sure that there is prosperity and liberty that is restored to Venezuela. And that just doesn’t appear to be on Donald Trump’s priority list.”

She said Venezuelans who are promoting Maduro’s ouster are now having the police search their cars and cell phones. Interim Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodriguez authorized the searches, Wasserman Schultz said.

The Dem lawmaker added it was unsettling that Trump “isn’t even mentioning the word democracy” when he talks about Venezuela.

“We seem to have swapped one head of the snake for another,” she said.

Her criticism of Trump comes after she jumped on X on Saturday to say how happy she was about Maduro’s arrest.

“The capture of the brutal, illegitimate ruler of Venezuela… is welcome news for my friends and neighbors who fled his violent, lawless, and disastrous rule,” she wrote. “However, cutting off the head of a snake is fruitless if it just regrows.”

She continued, “Venezuelans deserve the promise of democracy and the rule of law, not a state of endless violence and spiraling disorder. My hope is it offers a passage to true democracy and liberation. This action offers beleaguered Venezuelans a chance to seat their true, democratically elected president, Edmundo González.”

Shortly before Wasserman Schultz went on CNN, a defiant Maduro appeared in federal court for the first time since being taken to the U.S.

“I am innocent, I am not guilty,” Maduro told the New York City courthouse.

Maduro was charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, weapons charges, and cocaine-importation conspiracy. Maduro and three other defendants trafficked “thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States,” according to the indictment.

He also declared “I’m still president of my country.”

Watch above via CNN.