South Carolina officials react to US military operation in Venezuela, Maduro’s capture

ABC Team,

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro talks during a meeting with Venezuelan diplomats returning from the US, at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Jan. 28, 2019. Venezuelan Presidency/AFP/Getty Images

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro talks during a meeting with Venezuelan diplomats returning from the US, at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Jan. 28, 2019. Venezuelan Presidency/AFP/Getty Images

 

(WCIV) — Elected officials across South Carolina are weighing in after the United States struck the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and captured the country’s leader Nicolas Maduro at President Trump’s direction early Saturday morning.

The Venezuelan president was captured along with his wife in an operation carried out by US special forces. The couple both face multiple charges brought forth in an indictment from the Southern District of New York.

Governor Henry McMaster lauded President Trump’s “amazing leadership and resolve” in the wake of the operation.

“This morning’s capture of Venezuelan narco-dictator Nicolas Maduro is a victory for democracy and human rights in our hemisphere,” the governor wrote on X. “Please join me in thanking the men and women who successfully and professionally carried out this historic mission.”

Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette proclaimed the world “a safer place” with Maduro’s downfall.

“President [Donald Trump] is the greatest Commander-in-Chief in U.S. history,” she wrote on X. “God bless our president and the brave men and women in uniform.”

Attorney General Alan Wilson spoke out in defense of the operation after many questioned it’s legality, claiming that the president acted within constitutional guidelines.

“For years, Nicolás Maduro has operated as a thug, presiding over a regime accused of narcotics trafficking and working hand in hand with criminal and terrorist networks that poison communities and destabilize our hemisphere,” AG Wilson said in a statement. “The United States is not required to wait until those threats reach our shores before responding.”

Congresswoman Nancy Mace applauded Saturday’s events, praising President Trump for “showing the world what a strong, well led America can do.”

“The Dictator Maduro thought he could peddle drugs into America and support terrorists, but President Trump showed him otherwise,” she said in a statement. “I am so proud of President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, the men and women of the War Department, and our law enforcement officers who all worked together flawlessly to bring Maduro and his wife to the US to face justice.”

Mac Deford, a Democrat running for Mace’s seat in the House, criticized the operation as unconstitutional and unlawful.

“The President has no legal justification under U.S. law or international law to launch military action or force regime change without congressional authorization,” he said. “Ignoring Congress is not decisive leadership. It is unlawful, dangerous, and destabilizing for our country and our standing in the world.”

Senator Tim Scott labelled Maduro a “crook” and a “narcoterrorist who facilitated the deaths of thousands of Americans.”

“Any ousting of an illegitimate regime is a serious decision by any administration, and this one will now reside where it belongs: with the people of Venezuela,” he continued in a statement. “I hope this action sends a clear message that killing thousands of Americans through fentanyl will have legal and lethal consequences.“

Sen. Lindsey Graham hailed the “Monroe-Trump doctrine” as “alive and well” and declared that President Trump had cemented himself as “the GOAT of the American presidency.”

 

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