In a move highlighting a sharp fracture within the Democratic Party, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) broke with key party leadership Saturday to praise President Donald Trump’s military operation aimed at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.
While many congressional Democrats condemned the mission as an illegal act of war, Wasserman Schultz, whose South Florida district is home to a massive Venezuelan exile community, called the operation “welcome news.”
“The capture of the brutal, illegitimate ruler of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, who oppressed Venezuela’s people is welcome news for my friends and neighbors who fled his violent, lawless, and disastrous rule,” Wasserman Schultz wrote on X Saturday morning.
READ: Trump: US Will ‘Run’ Venezuela Until ‘Judicious’ Transition After Maduro Capture
The former DNC chair argued that the removal of Maduro offers a tangible path toward a “liberated Venezuela” and the potential seating of Edmundo González, whom the opposition views as the democratically elected president. However, she tempered her support with procedural criticism, noting that Congress should have been briefed prior to the operation.
“Cutting off the head of a snake is fruitless if it just regrows,” she added, emphasizing the need for sustained democratic transition.
The divergence underscores the unique political geography of South Florida, where foreign policy regarding Latin America often trumps partisan lines. The region hosts the largest Venezuelan diaspora in the United States; in the city of Doral, just west of Miami, roughly 40% of residents are of Venezuelan descent.
Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL), representing a district south of Orlando, echoed Wasserman Schultz. He hailed the capture as a “major step towards a #VenezuelaLibre,” while simultaneously chiding the president for bypassing legislative approval—a requirement the Trump administration has dismissed as unnecessary for this specific action.
This reaction stood in stark contrast to the fury expressed by Democrats outside of Florida.
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego lambasted the move shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday, labeling it an “unjustified war” and describing the U.S. as shifting from “world cop to world bully.”
California Rep. Adam Schiff, a longtime critic of the former president, warned that the operation erodes America’s global standing. “[S]tarting a war to remove Maduro doesn’t just continue Donald Trump’s trampling of the Constitution… [it] risks our adversaries mirroring this brazen illegal escalation,” Schiff stated.
Republicans, meanwhile, rallied around the administration, pushing back against the narrative that the U.S. is at war. The Trump administration has not indicated plans for further military escalation following the indictments of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on federal charges in the Southern District of New York.
For Florida Republicans, the operation was a long-awaited victory. Rep. María Elvira Salazar declared that Maduro’s “narco-dictatorship has ENDED,” citing the regime’s export of crime via the Tren de Aragua gang.
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), who conferred with Secretary of State Marco Rubio following the news, framed the capture as a restoration of order. RELATED: Florida Senator Rick Scott Hails Trump’s Decisive Takedown Of Narco-Terrorist Maduro
“This is peace through strength on full display,” Scott said. “Today, America and the world are a safer place.”
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