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Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) accused President Donald Trump of being under the sway of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) after Trump authorized the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
U.S. forces invaded Venezuela on Saturday and captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, who were whisked to New York. The two pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has been sworn in as interim president.
The raid, which resulted in the deaths of at least 80 people, came after a months-long campaign of aggression against Venezuela. Since September, the Trump administration has bombed several boats originating from the country and seized two of its oil tankers. Trump claims the boats were carrying drugs. But on Sunday, Trump explained that he is interested in Venezuela’s oil reserves.
“We are going to have to have big investments by the oil companies to bring back the infrastructure,” he said aboard Air Force One. “The oil companies are ready to go, they are going to build back the infrastructure.”
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Paul criticized the invasion and said he admired Trump’s past claims about eschewing an interventionist foreign policy. Audio of Paul’s remarks was posted on social media by the American Conservative.
“It was something I liked about Donald Trump,” Paul said. “Whenever I had misgivings about something else, I’d always come back and say, ‘Well, he’s the best we’ve ever had.’ Much better than the Bushes, who were war-mad and wanted to be involved in all these crazy wars overseas or make the world safe for democracy. I never liked any of that. And I thought Trump was different. And so, it disappoints me, but he’s under the thrall of Lindsey Graham.”
Graham is a longtime foreign policy hawk who has advocated the use of U.S. military force against a host of countries. After Maduro’s capture, the senator called for regime change in Cuba and Iran.
