"But there are lots of other dictators, authoritarians and strongmen in the rest of the world, many of whom Trump has praised through the years. Trump has allied himself with people like Hungary's Viktor Orbán, Argentina's Javier Milei, rolled out the red carpet for Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman, seems deferential to Russia's Vladimir Putin, and, during his first term, made overtures to North Korea's Kim Jong Un. Couldn't there be justifications for those leaders' overthrow, too, that an American administration could come up with, following Trump's logic?"
"Yes, there's undoubtedly an irony in Trump campaigning against intervention and what he's done in Venezuela. There will be - and already are - voices of opposition in Trump's base. But dedication to Trump among the faithful runs deep - and there's an entire conservative media infrastructure built to insulate him and give the base talking points. It started in the early moments Saturday morning after the raid."
Trump has praised and allied with multiple authoritarian leaders, including Viktor Orbán, Javier Milei, Mohammed bin Salman, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. The same logic used to justify action against Venezuela could be applied to other leaders, raising questions about selective intervention driven by politics and oil. MAGA loyalty remains strong despite contradictions between nonintervention rhetoric and recent actions. A conservative media infrastructure quickly framed the narrative to defend Trump and provide talking points. Polling before recent events showed overall opposition to military action but a Republican plurality favoring intervention, indicating partisan splits on foreign policy.
Read at Kqed
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