SiriusXM host Stephen A. Smith denounced Democrats for their criticism of the Trump administration\u2019s capture and removal of Venezuelan Dictator<\/b>
\nSiriusXM host Stephen A. Smith denounced Democrats for their criticism of the Trump administration\u2019s capture and removal of Venezuelan Dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro during a special edition of \u201cStraight Shooter with Stephen A.\u201d on Tuesday.
The first Trump administration placed a $15 million bounty on Maduro in 2020, which the Biden administration boosted to $25 million in January 2025 and the second Trump administration increased it to up to $50 million in August 2025, according to the State Department. Smith highlighted the bipartisan nature of the bounties on his show, arguing Democrats\u2019 complaints were inconsistent.
WATCH:
\u201cIf you got a bounty on his head and the Biden administration had a bounty on his head, and then another $50 million bounty on his head \u2014 15 to 25 to 50 \u2014 once you got his ass, that\u2019s not something to be complaining about, \u2019cause everybody was in on it,\u201d Smith said. \u201cEverybody was cool with it. If you\u2019re cool with the bounty, you got to be cool with the capture. And not an American soldier died. Not one. Not an American citizen got harmed. Not one! Not one! Not one!\u201d
While seven American service members were wounded in the operation, a Trump administration official told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that five had resumed work already and two were \u201cwell on their way to recovery.\u201d
\u201cCome on now. This is what I mean when I talk about us being fair. There\u2019s a lot of things I don\u2019t like about what the president\u2019s doing or how he might do it. I don\u2019t like the style at all,\u201d Smith added. \u201cBut in the end, when it\u2019s effective, it\u2019s effective, and you got to give credit where it\u2019s due. That\u2019s how you legitimately grill him when you diametrically oppose what he\u2019s doing, because it makes sense. Because you\u2019re not engaging in partisanship. You\u2019re consistent.\u201d
Former Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams also called out former Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday after she criticized the operation, based on the bounty the Biden-Harris administration placed.
\u201cPublic safety is not a political game,\u201d Adams wrote in an X post responding to Harris\u2019 post. \u201cYou do not label someone a narco-dictator one year and then pretend he is no longer a threat the next simply because a different president is in office.\u201d
Congressional Democrats immediately railed against the operation on Saturday, arguing that Trump lacked legal authority without congressional approval and that it did not align with American interests to use military force against Maduro\u2019s regime.
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said on \u201cCNN News Central\u201d on Tuesday that support for the operation surged, citing Reuters\/Ipsos and polling.
\u201cPre-ousting, what you saw was the clear plurality of Americans opposed it \u2014 47%,\u201d Enten said. \u201cJust 21% supported it \u2026 After the ousting, look at that \u2014 the support through the roof. Now we\u2019re talking about 37%, well within the margin of error right here of the opposition, 38%.\u201d
Moreover, although 65% of Republicans supported the operation, 54% were concerned that the U.S. could become excessively entangled in Venezuelan affairs, according to a Reuters poll published on Monday.
Delta Force conducted the operation, bringing Maduro to the U.S., where he faces four criminal charges, including narco-terrorism. The former dictator pleaded not guilty during his Monday arraignment.<\/p>\n