Heather Cox Richardson

And you could actually see it in real time on social media.

Immediately after the attack, a number of MAGA influences were like, what are you doing?

And then within 12 hours, they're like, this is great.

And this is, I think, where people like you and me come in, is to reiterate the reality of what is happening.

And so we're actually not talking about you and me about Venezuela, except to say that the regime is in place and they are instituting extraordinary crackdowns on the Venezuelan people.

Yeah.

that do suggest it is at least possible that Trump really got played here because an unpopular regime is now being able to solidify its popularity.

But what we are talking about is the need for the American people to have access to the actual facts as opposed to what we're seeing coming out of the White House, which is, rah, rah, this is great.

You know, we have always been at war with East Asia.

a reference, of course, to 1984, George Orwell's 1984.

But this, I think, is the battle going forward into American elections in the future, is making sure that people who are not necessarily paying close attention have access to what is really happening.

Because if you look at what is really happening, what you're seeing is our military being used in service of a wannabe dictator who's consolidating power by...

grabbing, at least in this case, the leader of a country against the law in the United States, against international law, in order to bring more power and money to himself.

And, you know, there are not a lot of people in the United States of America who think that's a great idea, and most of them probably share his DNA.

You know, I was watching a 2016 Marco Rubio speech last night, as one does on a Tuesday night, right?

And it was really interesting because he was animated, he was alive, he seemed to have principles.

And I contrasted that in my mind with his interview last Sunday with George Stephanopoulos and thought, what happened?

And I don't mean like, oh, what happened?

But...

As in, it's almost like somebody has drained the life out of that man.