Miller Says "Free World" Depends On US Ability to Take Over Other Countries

""Belligerent" was how one Democratic lawmaker described a diatribe given by top White House adviser Stephen Miller on CNN Monday evening regarding the Trump administration's right to take over Venezuela - or any other country - if doing so is in the supposed interest of the US. To Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), however, Miller was simply providing viewers with "a very good definition of imperialism" as he described the worldview the administration is operating under as it takes control of Venezuela and eyes other countries, including Greenland, that it believes it can and should invade."

""This is what imperialism is all about," Sanders told CNN 's Jake Tapper. "And I suspect that people all over the world are saying, 'Wow, we're going back to where we were 100 years ago, or 50 years ago, where the big, powerful countries were exploiting poorer countries for their natural resources.'""

"The senator spoke to Tapper shortly after Miller's interview, in which the news anchor asked whether President Donald Trump would support holding an election in Venezuela days after the US military bombed the country and abducted President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Miller refused to directly engage with the question, saying only that it would be "absurd and preposterous" for the US to install Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado as the leader of the country, before asking Tapper to "give [him] the floor" and allow him to explain the White House's view on foreign policy."

Stephen Miller asserted on CNN that the Trump administration has the right to take over Venezuela or any country if doing so serves U.S. interests. A Democratic lawmaker labeled Miller's remarks "belligerent." Senator Bernie Sanders called Miller's statements "a very good definition of imperialism" and warned that powerful countries are reverting to exploiting poorer nations for natural resources, likening the conduct to behavior from 50 to 100 years ago. Tapper asked whether President Trump would support holding an election in Venezuela after U.S. military action and the abduction of Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Miller refused to answer directly, called installing María Corina Machado "absurd and preposterous," and requested the floor to explain the White House's foreign-policy view.

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