Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) issued a strong statement today after President Trump announced that U.S. forces had carried out “a large scale strike against Venezuela” and said the United States would “run the country now” until what the White House described as a “proper transition” takes place.
Warnock called the strike a reckless escalation with serious risks and urged Congress to assert its constitutional authority.
“Americans do not want U.S. troops involved in yet another endless war or their government running another government,” Warnock said. “Yet that is what Donald Trump who, as a candidate, promised to get us out of foreign wars has announced. ‘We will run’ Venezuela. We have seen that awful movie before.”
Warnock acknowledged that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is a dictator and involved in drug trafficking, but noted that other bad actors exist around the world.
“To be sure, Nicolás Maduro is a dictator involved in the death dealing international drug business,” the senator said. “But there are many such bad actors around the world. In fact, one who trafficked hundreds of tons of illegal drugs into the United States was recently pardoned by Donald Trump without any good explanation.”
The senator described the strike as a major escalation with no clear strategy and warned it could lead to more violence and instability in Venezuela.
“The recent attack on a sovereign nation in our own hemisphere is also without a good explanation,” Warnock said. “This huge escalation with no clear strategy risks bringing more violence and instability to a nation of 28 million people, potentially causing more drug trafficking and more migration to the United States.”
Warnock said the action reflects another broken campaign promise by the president, arguing that Trump appears more focused on foreign policy than on domestic economic issues.
“Americans want to know who is actually fighting for them,” he said.
The senator also expressed relief that no U.S. service members were killed, while offering prayers for those injured. He reiterated that the Trump administration must justify the military action and clarify how it plans to govern Venezuela.
“As the voice of a large military state, I am relieved that no service members were killed and I am praying for the injured service members,” Warnock said. “The Trump administration owes the American people answers justifying this attack and explaining how the United States will ‘run’ Venezuela. It’s time for an increasingly feckless Congress to finally act and put this reckless president in check.”
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