Homeland Security Dem blasted Trump for not ousting Maduro in 2019, now calls arrest 'above the law'

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy charges ‘Donald Trump is trying to rig the rules of American democracy’

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy tells Fox News Digital it would be "foolish for any of us to be thinking about running in an election in 2028 that may not happen."

The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Homeland Security once trashed President Donald Trump for not taking action after Nicolás Maduro retained power following 2019's disputed election versus Juan Guaidó.

This week, Sen. Christopher Murphy’s tone appeared to change after the Connecticut Democrat went on a tweetstorm lambasting Trump’s operation to arrest the dictator over the weekend.

In January 2019, the Venezuelan political crisis reached its climax with Maduro’s inauguration following a disputed election. The socialist party leader’s election had been declared invalid by opposition members of the National Assembly, and opposition candidate Juan Guaidó declared himself acting president.

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Trump national security adviser John Bolton declared at the time the U.S. "will not recognize the Maduro dictatorship's illegitimate inauguration."

At the time, Murphy responded to the Trump administration’s tack by blasting the White House on Jan. 23 of that year for failing to act upon Maduro’s illegitimate stranglehold on power.

"If Trump cared about consistency, he would make the realist case for intervention in Venezuela (getting rid of Maduro is good for the United States) rather than trying to pretend his administration all of a sudden cares about toppling anti-democratic regimes," Murphy tweeted.

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He added that U.S. foreign policy has always been a "muddle of values-based and interests-based decisions," but that Trump "takes it to the extreme" by embracing autocrats.

"Strong men around the world are befuddled," Murphy added, appearing to compare the U.S. reaction to Maduro’s inauguration to its apparent "defense of a dictator who chopped up a political opponent" – an apparent reference to Saudi-born Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi, whose October 2018 murder many blamed on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Fast-forward to present day, Murphy slammed Trump for engineering the operation that arrested Maduro on drug trafficking and other charges, detained him aboard the USS Iwo Jima and imprisoned him in Brooklyn.

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"Maduro’s illegitimate election does not give the president the power to invade without congressional approval, nor does it create a national security justification," Murphy tweeted after the despot’s capture.

"That contention is laughable. This is about satisfying Trump’s vanity, making good on the longstanding neocon grudge against Maduro, enriching Trump’s oil industry backers, and distracting voters from Epstein and rising costs."

Murphy added that Trump believes he is above the law and can "steal" from taxpayers.

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"And now, he is starting an illegal war with Venezuela that Americans didn’t ask for and has nothing to do with our security."

"How does going to war in South America help regular Americans who are struggling? How does this do anything about drugs entering the U.S. when Venezuela produces no fentanyl? What is the actual security threat to the United States? And what happens next in Venezuela? He cannot answer these questions."

Fox News Digital reached out to Murphy’s office for comment.

In response to another related post by Murphy, the White House's Rapid Response47 arm called the Connecticut lawmaker a "buffoon" and said that if he believed the operation had nothing to do with national security, he should "tell that to the families of the innocent Americans brutally murdered by the gang members the regime imported here – or the drugs they trafficked here; You’re sick."

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During a March 2025 special event featuring Venezuelan expatriates in the U.S. and headlined by Guaidó and Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla, the Venezuelan opposition leader praised Trump for actions taken at the time to reverse a Biden-era oil deal with Maduro’s government.

"[W]e need a strong, prosperous and safe Latin America – and one that will be safe, with democracy and freedom," Guaidó said in Spanish from the Diplomatic Lounge at Miami International Airport.

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Sen. Chris Murphy speaks at a rally at the U.S. Capitol on April 10, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Fair Share America)

"I have no doubt in President Trump, and in the message that he is sending directly to the heart of those who financed the coup d'état perpetrated by the dictatorship on July 28, 2024 (the disputed re-election of Maduro)," he said.

Guaidó warned that it was also time to confront Western despots who "usurp" power, such as in Cuba and Nicaragua, and warn them that they "will not have impunity."

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].