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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Cracks In Democrats’ Venezuela Response Reveal Muddle

Cracks In Democrats’ Venezuela Response Reveal Muddle

January 8, 2026 at 5:51 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“In the days following the Donald Trump-ordered toppling of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, Democratic critics largely fell into two camps,” the Washington Post reports.

“Many elected leaders and potential presidential candidates offered full-throated condemnations, accusing Trump of brazenly breaking international law by seizing the leader of another country. A second group, led by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, was more cautious, taking pains to denounce Maduro while warning that a long-term engagement in the country could prove disastrous.”

“The crack is symptomatic of a deeper uncertainty that has bedeviled the party for more than a decade, as Democrats struggle to counter an ‘America First’ movement that has scrambled the country’s traditional foreign policy divisions.”

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Filed Under: Foreign Affairs

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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