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Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido waves as he is acknowledged by U.S. President Donald Trump during his the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on February 4, 2020. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
'No Better Distillation of Washington': Democrats and GOP Join Trump in Standing Ovation for Failed Venezuelan Coup Leader Juan Guaido
"Intervening in Venezuela's internal politics is the one thing that is bipartisan! How sad," said CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin.
Feb 04, 2020
In a moment observers described as a telling display of the bipartisan support for regime change that pervades Washington, D.C., congressional Democrats applauded along with their Republican colleagues after President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address Tuesday night to praise Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who headed a failed U.S-backed coup against his country's elected president last year.
Trump hailed Guaido--who was in attendance for the address--as the "true and legitimate president of Venezuela," a line that was met with a raucous standing ovation from members of both political parties, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the top Democrat in Congress.
As NPRreported, "Guaido received an extended bipartisan standing ovation. It was one of the few times that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats stood to applaud during Trump's speech."
Watch:
\u201cI don\u2019t give a shit that Nancy Pelosi ripped up Trump\u2019s speech, her theatrics mean nothing. She stood up and applauded Trump\u2019s fake regime change president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido. Both party\u2019s leaders are rotten to the core\u201d— Rania Khalek (@Rania Khalek) 1580901124
Keane Bhatt, policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), tweeted in response to the show of unity that "there is no better distillation of Washington, D.C. than a State of the Union in which Nancy Pelosi--having just led the impeachment of Donald 'All Roads Lead to Putin' Trump--twice joins in a rousing standing ovation of Juan Guaido, Trump's appointed 'president' of Venezuela."
CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin reacted with dismay to the bipartisan standing ovation for Guaido, whose coup attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro quickly collapsed last year despite support from the U.S. and other nations.
"The Democrats, including Pelosi, just got up to applaud the self-proclaimed 'president' of Venezuela Juan Guaido," tweeted Benjamin. "Intervening in Venezuela's internal politics is the one thing that is bipartisan! How sad."
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In a moment observers described as a telling display of the bipartisan support for regime change that pervades Washington, D.C., congressional Democrats applauded along with their Republican colleagues after President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address Tuesday night to praise Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who headed a failed U.S-backed coup against his country's elected president last year.
Trump hailed Guaido--who was in attendance for the address--as the "true and legitimate president of Venezuela," a line that was met with a raucous standing ovation from members of both political parties, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the top Democrat in Congress.
As NPRreported, "Guaido received an extended bipartisan standing ovation. It was one of the few times that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats stood to applaud during Trump's speech."
Watch:
\u201cI don\u2019t give a shit that Nancy Pelosi ripped up Trump\u2019s speech, her theatrics mean nothing. She stood up and applauded Trump\u2019s fake regime change president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido. Both party\u2019s leaders are rotten to the core\u201d— Rania Khalek (@Rania Khalek) 1580901124
Keane Bhatt, policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), tweeted in response to the show of unity that "there is no better distillation of Washington, D.C. than a State of the Union in which Nancy Pelosi--having just led the impeachment of Donald 'All Roads Lead to Putin' Trump--twice joins in a rousing standing ovation of Juan Guaido, Trump's appointed 'president' of Venezuela."
CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin reacted with dismay to the bipartisan standing ovation for Guaido, whose coup attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro quickly collapsed last year despite support from the U.S. and other nations.
"The Democrats, including Pelosi, just got up to applaud the self-proclaimed 'president' of Venezuela Juan Guaido," tweeted Benjamin. "Intervening in Venezuela's internal politics is the one thing that is bipartisan! How sad."
In a moment observers described as a telling display of the bipartisan support for regime change that pervades Washington, D.C., congressional Democrats applauded along with their Republican colleagues after President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address Tuesday night to praise Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who headed a failed U.S-backed coup against his country's elected president last year.
Trump hailed Guaido--who was in attendance for the address--as the "true and legitimate president of Venezuela," a line that was met with a raucous standing ovation from members of both political parties, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the top Democrat in Congress.
As NPRreported, "Guaido received an extended bipartisan standing ovation. It was one of the few times that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats stood to applaud during Trump's speech."
Watch:
\u201cI don\u2019t give a shit that Nancy Pelosi ripped up Trump\u2019s speech, her theatrics mean nothing. She stood up and applauded Trump\u2019s fake regime change president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido. Both party\u2019s leaders are rotten to the core\u201d— Rania Khalek (@Rania Khalek) 1580901124
Keane Bhatt, policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), tweeted in response to the show of unity that "there is no better distillation of Washington, D.C. than a State of the Union in which Nancy Pelosi--having just led the impeachment of Donald 'All Roads Lead to Putin' Trump--twice joins in a rousing standing ovation of Juan Guaido, Trump's appointed 'president' of Venezuela."
CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin reacted with dismay to the bipartisan standing ovation for Guaido, whose coup attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro quickly collapsed last year despite support from the U.S. and other nations.
"The Democrats, including Pelosi, just got up to applaud the self-proclaimed 'president' of Venezuela Juan Guaido," tweeted Benjamin. "Intervening in Venezuela's internal politics is the one thing that is bipartisan! How sad."
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LATEST NEWS
Saga of Fired NLRB Member, Who Was Just Reinstated Again, Appears Headed to Supreme Court
If he prevails at the Supreme Court, U.S. President Donald Trump "could gain extraordinary powers to investigate and penalize private businesses and individuals, tilt elections," and more, one outlet noted.
Apr 07, 2025
The full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday issued a divided ruling that reinstated two members of labor-focused independent agencies whom the Trump administration had sought to remove. The ruling is likely not the end of the legal saga and the case appears headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The federal appeals court voted 7-4 to reverse an earlier decision by a three-member panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the Trump administration's dismissal of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne Wilcox and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) member Cathy Harris.
Since Trump's return to the White House, Harris and Wilcox have been repeatedly removed and reinstated following contradictory rulings, according to The Guardian.
Monday's ruling was split along partisan lines, with the four dissenting judges all appointed to the court by Republican administrations, per The Guardian.
Wilcox was first appointed to the NLRB, which safeguards private sector workers' rights to organize, in 2021 by then-President Joe Biden and was re-confirmed for a five-year term by the Senate in 2023. Wilcox's removal meant the body did not have a quorum, because it needs three members to have a quorum. It once again has a quorum and can issue decisions.
As a member and former chair of the MSPB, Harris helped lead an agency that reviews federal employee firings, suspensions, and whistleblower claims.
According to the outlet Democracy Docket, the court ruled Monday that the administration's dismissal of Wilcox and Harris ran afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Humphrey's Executor v. U.S., a 1935 case that upheld removal restrictions for government officials on multimember adjudicatory boards.
"Trump's Department of Justice said it believes congressional limitations on the president's removal power are unconstitutional and that it will urge the Supreme Court to overturn Humphrey's Executor," Democracy Docket reported. "If the Supreme Court ultimately grants Trump the ability to fire members of independent bodies, he could gain extraordinary powers to investigate and penalize private businesses and individuals, tilt elections, and use monetary policy for political purposes."
A Week After Hiking Trump Recession Odds, Goldman Sachs Does It Again
"Trump and House Republicans are crashing the economy, raising your cost of living, and driving us toward a recession," said the chamber's top Democrat. "What happened to the so-called golden era of America?"
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A week after Goldman Sachs raised the chance of a U.S. recession in the next 12 months from 20% to 35%, the Wall Street giant elevated it to 45% on Sunday, following President Donald Trump's worse-than-anticipated tariff announcement.
Goldman Sachs' note—tilted, Countdown to Recession—points to "a sharp tightening in financial conditions, foreign consumer boycotts, and a continued spike in policy uncertainty that is likely to depress capital spending by more than we had previously assumed."
The analysis is based on expectations that negotiations early this week will lead to "a large reduction in the tariffs" that Trump is set to impose on Wednesday. If that doesn't happen, Goldman's forecast is expected to change for the worse.
Since Trump's "Liberation Day" announcement last Wednesday, "at least seven top investment banks have raised their recession risk forecasts," Reuters noted Monday, "with JPMorgan putting the odds of a U.S. and global recession at 60%, on fears that the tariffs will not only ignite U.S. inflation but also spark retaliatory measures from other countries, as China has already announced."
China initially responded to Trump on Friday with 34% import duties on all American goods. The U.S. president hit back on Monday, further escalating his trade war with the Chinese government by threatening to impose an additional 50% tariff. Citing a White House official, CNBC pointed out that "U.S. tariffs on China will total 104% if Trump's latest threat takes effect."
Trump wrote in a Truth Social post: "Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated! Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately."
Stocks have plummeted over the past week, and were "swinging Monday following a manic morning where indexes plunged, soared, and then sank again as Wall Street tossed around a false rumor," The Associated Press reported.
"A White House account on X said a rumor circulating that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on his tariffs was 'fake news,'" the AP continued. "The intense and sudden moves show how hard financial markets are straining to see hopes that Trump may let up on his stiff tariffs, which economists see raising the risks of a global recession."
While progressive economists and working-class people have highlighted how Trump's "batshit crazy" tariffs are expected to impact everyday Americans—as the cost of the duties are passed on to consumers—many executives are also blasting the president's policy.
One respondent to a CNBC CEO Council survey called Trump's tariffs "disappointingly stupid and illogical," and said that "without faith that our government knows what it is doing, it is impossible for businesses to thrive."
According to CNBC, other CEO responses included:
- "This is the Trump recession."
- "Trump has imposed tariffs on component parts that are simply unavailable in the U.S. and never will be. He has surrounded himself with an incompetent cadre of yes men and women unable or unwilling to offer him cogent counsel."
- "We imagine that our suppliers will have to swallow part of the tariff, and we will have to pass on part of the tariff to our customers. We are controlling what we can control, pricing and sourcing decisions. We can't control the impact of tariffs on the consumer mindset, which we imagine could be significant."
Democrats in Congress also continued to call out the Republican president on Monday.
"Trump and House Republicans are crashing the economy, raising your cost of living, and driving us toward a recession,"
said the chamber's minority leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). "What happened to the so-called golden era of America?"
'Wrongheaded Cruelty': Observers Bash Rubio Decision to Revoke All Visas Held by South Sudanese
"South Sudan is about to blow up into potentially another country-wide civil war, putting civilians at risk. But yea let's force people to go back now," wrote one professor.
Apr 07, 2025
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday announced that the United States is revoking visas for all South Sudanese passport holders, "effective immediately"—sparking criticism from several observers, including those who pointed out that the country could soon tip into another civil war.
Rubio announced on X that the move, which includes restricting any "further issuance" of visas, comes in response to the South Sudanese government's failure to return "its repatriated citizens in a timely manner."
"This is wrongheaded cruelty," wrote Rebecca Hamilton, a professor at American University Washington College of Law and executive editor at the digital law and policy journal Just Security, on X on Saturday. "The vast majority of South Sudanese in this country (or, frankly inside South Sudan, right now) have no say in what their government does. They are here working, studying, building skills essential for their nascent country."
Mike Brand, an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut and Georgetown University who focuses on human rights and atrocities prevention, wrote on Saturday: "South Sudan is about to blow up into potentially another country-wide civil war, putting civilians at risk. But yea let's force people to go back now."
South Sudan is the world's youngest country, having only declared independence from Sudan in 2011 following two lengthy civil wars.
The young nation was once again plunged into civil war in 2013 due to violence between warring factions backing President Salva Kiir and his deputy, Riek Machar. A peace deal was brokered in 2018, though the country has still not held a long-delayed presidential election and Kiir remains in power today, according to Time.
Fears of full-on civil war returned when, last month, Machar was arrested and his allies in government were also detained. Machar's opposition political party declared the country's peace deal effectively over, per Time.
Shortly after Rubio's announcement on Saturday, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X that the government of South Sudan had refused to accept a South Sudanese national who was "certified by their own embassy in Washington" and then repatriated. "Our efforts to engage diplomatically with the South Sudanese government have been rebuffed," Landau wrote.
On Monday, the government of South Sudan released a statement saying that the deportee who was not permitted entry is a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, not South Sudan. The government also said it has maintained consistent communication and cooperation with the U.S. government regarding "immigration and deportation matters."
In the early 2000s, thousands of "lost boys" stemming from a civil war in Sudan that began in the 1980s and eventually led to South Sudan's independence were resettled in the United States.
John Skiles Skinner, a software engineer based in California, reacted to Rubio's announcement by writing on Bluesky: "I taught a U.S. citizenship class to South Sudanese refugees in Nebraska, 2006-2007. Fleeing civil war, they worked arduous jobs at a meat packing plant. Many had no literacy in any language. But they studied hard for a citizenship exam which many native-born Americans would not be able to pass."
In 2011, the Obama administration granted South Sudan nationals in the United States "temporary protected status" (TPS)—a designation that shields foreign-born people from deportation because they cannot return home safely due to war, natural disasters, or other "extraordinary" circumstances. The Biden administration extended it, but the designation is set to expire early next month.
As of September 2024, the U.S. provides TPS protections to 155 people from South Sudan.
In a Monday post for Just Security, Hamilton of American University and a co-author wrote that "while there has been no public determination by the secretary of homeland security regarding an extension of TPS for South Sudanese, Rubio's announcement presumably means [U.S. Department of Homeland Security] Secretary Kristi Noem is planning to terminate their TPS."
Observers online also highlighted that Duke University star basketball player Khaman Maluach, whose family left South Sudan for Uganda when he was a child, could be impacted by the State Department's ruling.
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