CNN’s Brooke Baldwin let Bernie Sanders off the hook and gave him a free pass on the Venezuela situation in an interview on Tuesday, April 30.
Bernie Sanders, the self-proclaimed socialist, was endorsed by Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in 2016, and was never once put under pressure when questioned by Baldwin during their interview on CNN on Tuesday afternoon. The topics ranged from healthcare issues to Sanders’s support of the tough-on-crime bill to vilifying President Trump.
Meanwhile, the streets were on fire in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, and images of people allegedly being shot at by the military and mowed down by armored vehicles shocked the world.
But none of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates seized the opportunity to speak out about the armed insurgency in Venezuela that day. None of them condemned the brutal crackdown of the protesters by the military troops that were still loyal to Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro.
As the Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra pointed out on Twitter, Baldwin didn’t even mention Venezuela once during her 12-minute live segment with Sanders that day:
“CNN’s Brooke Baldwin failed to ask socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) a single question about Venezuela allegedly firing on protesters and running them over with armored military vehicles.” The post continued, “Baldwin didn’t even mention Venezuela during her *12-minute* live segment with him today.”
CNN’s Brooke Baldwin failed to ask socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) a single question about Venezuela allegedly firing on protesters and running them over with armored military vehicles.
Baldwin didn’t even mention Venezuela during her *12-minute* live segment with him today
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 30, 2019
Moreover, she did not ask about Maduro’s endorsement of him nor about Sanders’s refusal to label Maduro a dictator. Sanders did criticize Maduro’s regime in the past, but he is against a possible U.S. military intervention to topple Maduro. In an interview with The New Yorker, on April 13, 2019, he said, that that option should be “off the table.”
“The world community has got to be mindful of the humanitarian suffering and the hunger that’s going on in Venezuela right now,” he told the New Yorker. “But, at the end of the day, I think what you want in one of the largest countries in Latin America is free and fair elections, and we want to do everything we can to establish democracy there.”
Immediately after the CNN interview, Baldwin turned her attention to the uprising against the socialist regime in Venezuela that had ensued that very same day, as if the two were totally unrelated.
After the show, many commentators took to social media to express their frustrations about Baldwin’s apparent unwillingness to extract clear-cut answers from Sanders on this sensitive topic.
Tyler O’Neil of PJ Media.com commented on Twitter, “During the revolt, protesters were crushed by armored cars. Yet not a single Democratic presidential candidate spoke out about this horror. Protesters in Venezuela are getting run over by armored cars, & 2020 Dems are silent. Nicolas Maduro endorsed BernieSanders in 2016. Why don’t PeteButtigieg, JoeBiden, CoryBooker or KamalaHarris want to turn this into a wedge issue? Maybe they like oppressive socialism…”
Protesters in Venezuela are getting run over by armored cars, & 2020 Dems are silent. Nicolas Maduro endorsed @BernieSanders in 2016. Why don’t @PeteButtigieg, @JoeBiden, @CoryBooker or @KamalaHarris want to turn this into a wedge issue? Maybe they like oppressive socialism…
— Tyler O’Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) April 30, 2019
President Trump wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, backing up Juan Guaidó, the legitimate future leader of the country:
I am monitoring the situation in Venezuela very closely. The United States stands with the People of Venezuela and their Freedom!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 30, 2019
“The United States stands with the people of Venezuela and their freedom!” Trump said.
