rewrite this title in other words: Murphy criticized Trump for not extraditing Maduro, and is now calling for his illegal detention
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The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Homeland Security once criticized President Donald Trump for not taking action after Nicolás Maduro retained power following the 2019 election contested by Juan Guaidó.
This week, the tone of Sen. Christopher Murphy appears to have changed after the Connecticut Democrat went on a tweetstorm criticizing Trump’s arrest warrant over the weekend.
In January 2019, Venezuela’s Political Crisis came to a head with the inauguration of Maduro following disputed elections. The election of the socialist leader was declared illegitimate by opposition members of the National Assembly, and opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself acting president.
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Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton announced at the time that the US “will not recognize the illegal inauguration of Maduro’s dictatorship.”
Meanwhile, Murphy responded to the Trump administration’s strategy by blasting the White House on January 23 of that year for failing to take action against Maduro’s illegal imposition of power.
“If Trump cared about consistency, he would make a genuine case for intervening in Venezuela (getting rid of Maduro is good for the United States) rather than trying to pretend his administration is only concerned with overthrowing anti-democratic regimes,” Murphy said.
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He added that US foreign policy has always been a “mess of decisions based on values and interests,” but said Trump is “going to the extreme” by embracing extremists.
“Powerful men around the world are confused,” Murphy said, appearing to compare the US’s reaction to Maduro’s inauguration to “his defense of a dictator who has become a political opponent” – an apparent reference to the Saudi-born Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed by a number of people in October 2018 by Saudi Crown Prince Salman Mohammed bin.
Fast forward to today, Murphy criticized Trump for carrying out the operation that arrested Maduro for drug trafficking and other crimes, imprisoned him on the USS Iwo Jima and jailed him in Brooklyn.
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“Maduro’s illegitimate election does not give the president the power to attack without congressional approval, and it does not justify national security,” Murphy said on Twitter after the official’s arrest.
“That argument is ridiculous. This is about satisfying Trump’s vanity, making good on a long-standing neocon grudge against Maduro, enriching Trump’s oil industry supporters, and distracting voters from Epstein and rising costs.”
Murphy added that Trump believes he is above the law and would “steal” from taxpayers.
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“And now, he’s starting an illegal war with Venezuela that the Americans didn’t ask for and that has nothing to do with our security.”
“How does going to war in South America help ordinary Americans who are struggling? How does this do anything about drugs coming into the US when Venezuela does not produce fentanyl? What is the real security threat to the United States? And what happens next in Venezuela? He cannot answer these questions.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Murphy’s office for comment.
In response to another post related to Murphy, the White House’s Rapid Response47 called the Connecticut attorney “a buffoon” and said that if he believes that this job has nothing to do with national security, he should “tell the families of innocent Americans who were brutally killed by gang members that the state imports here – or the drugs they sell here.”
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During a special event in March 2025 that brings together Venezuelan immigrants in the US and is titled Guaidó and Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., Venezuela’s opposition leader praised Trump for steps taken at the time to undo the Biden-era oil deal with Maduro’s government.
“[W]I need a strong, prosperous and safe Latin America – and one that will be secure, democratic and free,” Guaidó said in Spanish from the Diplomatic Lounge at Miami International Airport.
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Senator Chris Murphy speaks at the NO to Tax Breaks for Billionaires & Corporations rally at the US Capitol on April 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. ((Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Fair Share America))
“I have no doubt that President Trump, and the message he is sending directly to the heart of those who financed the overthrow of the dictatorship on July 28, 2024 (the contested election of Maduro),” he said.
Guaidó warned that it is time again to confront Western depots that “usurp” power like in Cuba and Nicaragua and warned them that they “will not be punished.”
