New Congress Democrats denounce Venezuela coup, get bashed for quoting RT-linked people
A handful of Democratic lawmakers are opposed to the US-backed coup in Venezuela. But besides going against most of the establishment, they are being bashed for committing a worse sin in MSM’s eyes – citing RT-related people.
Reps Ro Khanna (California), Ilhan Omar (Minnesota) and Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) were spotted advocating against US-sponsored regime change in Venezuela, where Washington has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate leader instead of President Nicolas Maduro.
Let me get this straight. The US is sanctioning Venezuela for their lack of democracy but not Saudi Arabia? Such hypocrisy. Maduro’s policies are bad and not helping his people, but crippling sanctions or pushing for regime change will only make the situation worse. https://t.co/NU6ikw0hoC
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) January 23, 2019
A US backed coup in Venezuela is not a solution to the dire issues they face. Trump's efforts to install a far right opposition will only incite violence and further destabilize the region. We must support Mexico, Uruguay & the Vatican's efforts to facilitate a peaceful dialogue.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 25, 2019
The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don't want other countries to choose our leaders--so we have to stop trying to choose theirs.
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) January 24, 2019
Khanna had the audacity to retweet Rania Khalek from In The Now to prove his point, and Omar resorted to retweeting Abby Martin, who previously anchored a show on RT. Both got called out by CNN contributor Michael Weiss and Casey Michel, an editor at the liberal think tank ThinkProgress.
Yesterday, @RoKhanna became the first (and I believe only) member of Congress to question the wisdom of Trump's decree of who rules Venezuela, so he's instantly smeared as - you'll never guess - a Russian asset by CNN contributor @michaeldweiss. Don't call it McCarthyism! pic.twitter.com/TAPxb4kZ3d
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 24, 2019
Rep. Ilhan Omar's also tweeting out Abby Martin, of RT/teleSUR fame. Yikes. pic.twitter.com/MA4m8J50OL
— Casey Michel 🇰🇿 (@cjcmichel) January 25, 2019
Gabbard is, of course, a usual suspect, having long been branded by the mainstream-minded crowd for her opposition to the idea that the US must wade into other countries' internal disputes to topple undesirable governments.
Also on rt.com Gabbard stands her ground on Syria, says she doesn't regret meeting AssadEven the liberal darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got grazed by the critics, by virtue of retweeting Ro Khanna, and thus getting involved second-hand with “Russian propaganda.”
While many of the commenters agreed, some even wanting the offending congresspeople to issue apologies…
Between this and AOC retweeting Ro Khanna's Intercept-regurgitating ass, hopes for the incoming freshmen are... let's say "diminished." https://t.co/uOzBwryWX2
— Peter Wolf (@peterawolf) January 25, 2019
Others were more interested in the message than the messenger.
Getting wet when you ignore the weather report only because you didn't like how the anchor was dressed
— Nelson Pereira (@LupitaChaire) January 25, 2019
Khanna, Omar and Ocasio-Cortez are all relatively new to the House, with the latter two getting voted in as part of the Democrats' progressive “blue wave” during the 2018 midterms. Gabbard has been in office since 2013. The four are also comparatively young, with only Khanna being older than 40.
The US, along with a number of its allies, has backed Juan Guaido's claim to the “interim president” office in Venezuela, while Russia, China and several others have doubled down on their recognition of Maduro and denounced Washington for trying to intervene.
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