Chris Murphy Says Venezuela Takeover Was To Benefit Trump’s ‘Oil Industry Buddies’ | EUROtoday

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) says President Donald Trump’s takeover of Venezuela was “not about American national security interests,” however “about what’s best for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago oil industry buddies.”

Appearing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” moderator Kristen Welker requested the Connecticut senator about his previous feedback describing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as an “illegitimate leader,” and about his claims in 2019 that “getting rid” of Maduro could be “good for the United States.”

“Is Venezuela now better off without Nicolás Maduro? Do you give the Trump administration some credit for that?” Welker questioned.

Doubling down on his feedback, Murphy reiterated that “Maduro is an illegitimate leader” whereas additionally calling Russian President Vladimir Putin an illegitimate chief. He argued, nonetheless, that “doesn’t mean that it’s good policy to invade those countries.”

“What we have seen over and over is that American military hubris, thinking that we can impose a political reality on a foreign country by force, ends up making us less safe,” he defined. “So yes, I thought that it was important for America to pursue a diplomatic strategy with our Latin American allies to try to force elections in Venezuela so as to allow the Venezuelan people to move Maduro out of power. I have never supported an invasion of Venezuela. Because I think ― ”

Welker then interjected to ask, “But is [Venezuela] better off?”

“Well, apparently this new person in charge, Delcy Rodriguez, is imposing a brutal crackdown on the Venezuelan people that’s worse in some ways than what Maduro did,” he continued. “So for the Venezuelan people, nothing has changed.”

Murphy added: “All that seemingly has changed is that American oil executives are going to get access to greater amounts of profit out of Venezuela.”

Rodriguez, who served as vp to the now-dethroned Maduro since 2018, stepped in as appearing president of Venezuela following Maduro’s seize by U.S. forces earlier this month. Rodriguez has fiercely defended Maduro’s regime in opposition to accusations of drug-trafficking and election-stealing.

At a Jan. 3 information convention, Trump stated he thinks Rodriguez is “willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” however ominously advised The Atlantic a day later that if she “doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”

Shortly after Trump’s information convention, Rodriguez condemned Maduro’s seize as “an atrocity that violates international law,” including that Venezuela is “ready to defend our natural resources.”

Elsewhere within the interview, Welker requested Murphy about his ideas on Trump’s repeated remarks about “annexing Greenland,” which prompted the senator to declare that the right-wing chief has been “spending no time thinking about the actual crises that are being visited on American families.”

Arguing that Trump is “distracted by things that don’t matter to the American people at a moment where the American people are in crisis,” Murphy added, “That is the underlying reality of a White House that has become out of control.”

Watch Murphy’s look on “Meet the Press” beneath.