Politics

WASHINGTON D.C. — U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) released the following statement regarding President Trump’s strikes in Venezuela and ousting of Nicolas Maduro: 

“President Trump’s decision to bomb targets in Venezuela, depose Nicolas Maduro, and “run” Venezuela continues the signature trend of his presidency: relentless focus on foreign entanglements and looking tough abroad, so as to distract from what’s happening to Americans’ pocketbooks. 

“So instead of action on health care costs or housing or energy bills, Americans get military action in Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and now a long-term engagement in Venezuela.

“Despite all the talking points to the media — and by Cabinet members directly to senators last month — this was never about stopping the drug cartels. If it were, President Trump wouldn’t have pardoned drug kingpin Juan Orlando Hernández, and he’d be going after Mexican cartels that move the fentanyl that’s killed hundreds of thousands of Americans — not fishing boats full of cocaine or, ultimately, the Venezuelan oil fields.   

“The President laid out his plan of regime change. He says he now wants to “run” Venezuela and particularly Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. 

“Maduro is a bad man, and the people of Venezuela deserve better. But we know that regime change isn’t as simple as removing one leader. While there are comparisons to the arrest of Manuel Noriega in Panama in 1989, let’s not forget that the U.S. sent in over 27,000 troops and lost 23 servicemembers in the process.

“The bottom line is that President Trump wants to look tough by attacking countries abroad to distract from his failure to attack the core issue of the cost of living at home.” 

press release