ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ SEETHES Over U.S. ‘Attack’ on Maduro, Venezuela

On Monday, ABC’s Good Morning America stood alone among the broadcast networks in expressing uniform disgust to Saturday’s U.S. military actions in Venezuela to capture dictator Nicolas Maduro, painting a picture of chaos, “questions,” “uncertainty,” and “unknowns” thanks to what they painted as illegal behavior by the Trump administration.

ABC came dangerously close to openly siding with the murderous thug by decrying the “attack” on his country, suggesting without evidence U.S. troops will take over, and only footnoting any support domestically or internationally.

It began in the teases, thanks to its star co-host who suffers from chronic, incurable Trump Derangement Syndrome, George Stephanopoulos:

 

Stephanopoulos formally kicked off the Venezuela coverage with this “attack” descriptor and suggested the U.S. intervention was illegal:

 

Virulent Trump hater and senior political correspondent Rachel Scott had the lead-off report and immediately sought to peddle disinformation:

 

She also pulled on Stephanopoulos’s string suggesting the military’s actions were illegal:

 

Later, Scott spun another web about the future and wrapped by making it seem as though Congress was lined up against the White House:

 

The snide remarks took a brief reprieve thanks to chief global affairs anchor Martha Raddatz providing more details on Saturday’s raid (and fear of future U.S. operations next door in Colombia) and then chief investigative correspondent Aaron Katersky previewing Maduro’s first court appearance.

But it was at the end of Katersky’s report that Stephanopoulos hurled this aside out of nowhere: “Of course, it should be noted that the former president of Honduras was pardoned by President Trump after being convicted in that same jurisdiction for bringing hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States.”

“Many are keeping that in mind. You’re right about that, George,” an enthused Roberts responded.

Roberts next threw to chief international correspondent James Longman at the Colombia/Venezuela border, declaring Colombia was “where millions of Venezuelans have fled in recent years.”

Why have they fled, Robin? What has Maduro done that’s caused so many to leave? ABC wouldn’t say.

 

Longman relayed seeing “a massive military presence” because “[t]he Colombians are really worried about a deteriorating security situation inside Venezuela, so they are securing the border” in which Venezuelans normally “flood over here every day...to go shopping on the Colombian side” because “[g]oods on the Colombian side are cheaper.”

Again, we ask the question: Why is that?

Longman’s next statement would yield the same response on our end: “We’ve been speaking to Venezuelans crossing over, and I’ve got to tell you, the overwhelming sentiment they have is one of relief, joy, happiness that Maduro is gone...The question they have is what happens next? How will their lives materially improve?”

“[W]hen it comes to regular Venezuelans, they want to make sure their lives get better And crucially, time and time again we speak to people here, they want their families to come home. Millions of Venezuelans are in exile. They’re hoping to be reunited...[I]t remains to be seen if anything will really change,” Longman concluded.

Yet again, Stephanopoulos opined: “So many questions going forward.”

Stephanopoulos spread more punditry, going to congressional correspondent Jay O’Brien with the statement that “some Republicans” and “top Democrats are questioning the legality and wisdom of Trump’s plan to run Venezuela.”

Notice how Stephanopoulos suggested partway through that Saturday’s moves were illegal because of what Chief of Staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair a few weeks ago (click “expand”):

STEPHANOPOULOS: We go to Capitol Hill now, where top Democrats are questioning the legality and wisdom of Trump’s plan to run Venezuela. Some Republicans joining in. Jay O’Brien is tracking the fallout. Good morning, Jay.

JAY O’BRIEN: Good morning, George. Multiple sources telling me that top congressional leaders will be briefed today by several Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the Attorney General about this high stakes operation to capture Maduro. It comes There are mounting questions here about how the president plans to make good on his promise for the U.S. to run Venezuela and give American companies access to the country’s vast oil reserves. There’s also continued criticism here on Capitol Hill that Congress did not authorize military action in Venezuela. Now, the administration is saying it initially delayed briefing members of Congress to prevent leaks, they say, and Secretary Rubio saying that in the administration’s view, Congress has limited authority here because this is a “law enforcement operation,” not an invasion. That’s despite the fact, George, that the military was integrally involved in capturing Maduro.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Also, despite the fact that several weeks ago, the President’s chief of staff told an interviewer that, in fact, the President would need congressional authorization for an operation like this.

O’BRIEN: Exactly right, she said if there were land strikes like the kind we saw in this operation, that would require congressional approval, and the president himself has called this a military operation. Now we’ve seen broad Republican support for this, but some. from within the president’s ranks, including Thomas Massie, a frequent critic of the President’s, saying that this is putting U.S. soldiers at risk to “make...oil companies (not Americans) more profitable.” Now, there will be a Democratic resolution on the Senate floor this week to rein in President Trump’s military power when it comes to Venezuela, but there have been repeated resolutions like this on the floor of the House and Senate over the last few weeks. They have repeatedly failed, blocked by Republican votes, George.

Two more segments closed out the first half-hour of programming and they weren’t any better:

 

Correspondent Matt Rivers — who reported extensively from the region when at CNN — spoke from Bogota, Colombia about what sources were telling him inside Venezuela (click “expand”):

Maduro’s inner circle still very much in power in Venezuela, but sources have confirmed to ABC News that there is a lot of concern amongst that group given the threats that we continue to hear from President Trump. We’ve even heard from sources that several senior officials within the government there have sent their children to stay outside of the country for fear of what happens next. But the government is absolutely trying to hang on and keep order. I’ve spoken to multiple people in Caracas who describe calm but tense streets with the government trying to keep gas stations and grocery stores stocked to avoid any sense of panic as locals continue to line up to stock up on groceries, fill up on gas, and keep cell phones charged. Meanwhile, people I’m speaking with also seeing significantly fewer of the much feared national police forces that were everywhere on the streets before this attack happened. But whether it’s the government or ordinary people, there is absolutely a sense of fear and uncertainty inside the country about who will govern and what exactly will happen next. Meanwhile, international reaction continuing to come in, condemnation from places like Cuba, Mexico, and here in Colombia, with praise coming from places like Argentina and El Salvador. But no question this attack reverberating across this entire region[.]

Other than a few characters recapping their stories in the second hour, ABC’s Venezuela coverage concluded with ABC News contributor and former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, John Lute, who played the only adult in the room by tapping the breaks on Stephanopoulos’s fear-mongering:

To see relevant ABC transcript from January 5, click here.