Gov. Shapiro and Sen. McCormick gave differing viewpoints on the recent foreign policy news out of South America.
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Dave McCormick offered differing philosophies on the U.S. Military’s recent successful operation to remove Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela. The Democrat governor and Junior Republican senator appeared on the Big K Morning Show from KDKA radio in Pittsburgh on Monday morning, just minutes apart. The conversation came after Maduro, Venezuela’s President since 2013, was ousted and captured by U.S. Special Forces last week. Shapiro praised the U.S. military’s “incredible” skill in executing the operation but sharply criticized the Trump administration’s handling of its aftermath.
“I don’t think it’s wise that even after extracting Maduro from power, his illegitimate regime remains in place,” Shapiro told the station. He pointed to Vice President Delcy Rodríguez’s continued authority and questioned the administration’s lack of clarity on governance, adding, “The President says, ‘We’re going to run Venezuela.’ I don’t know what that means.”
Shapiro warned the operation risked drawing the U.S. into a prolonged nation-building effort. “It sounds like a massive project with basically no plan for what comes next,” he said, adding that his concern was the U.S. being “sucked into something bigger, more expensive, and more dangerous.”
Shapiro’s comments came after President Trump, speaking aboard Air Force One, suggested Venezuela may not be the final target of U.S. Special Forces and said he was “open” to military action against Colombia and Cuba. Shapiro accused Trump of acting “like a bully,” while emphasizing that Maduro himself is a “bad guy.” In 2024, U.S. prosecutors indicted Maduro on narco-terrorism charges, and international observers accused him of stealing Venezuela’s most recent election after losing to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.
McCormick struck a different tone, praising the Trump administration while agreeing with Shapiro on the “extraordinary skill” required to execute the operation. The senator, who took office in 2024, argued the mission aligned with broader efforts to secure the U.S. border, including curbing the flow of opioids into the country.
“Venezuela is a trans-shipment hub,” said the Senator. “It’s a narco-terrorist hub. This guy (Maduro) was trafficking in drugs throughout the country that are killing Americans, and this was an imminent threat to the kids in Pennsylvania and across America.” McCormick served in the U.S. Army with the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg.
McCormick highlighted four key policy points accomplished with the ousting of Maduro, saying it not only limits the drug flow from the country, but ultimately lessens Venezuela’s ability to serve as ally to any U.S. adversaries. He also laid out how the U.S. could benefit from unlocking Venezuela’s vast oil reserve, which is one of the largest in the world. Additionally, CNBC reported key U.S. companies could potentially reclaim some of the assets seized by Hugo Chavez’s regime in 2007, six years before Maduro came to power after Chavez died unexpectedly.
“I don’t expect that’s going to be easy,” McCormick said. “I think we should have humility. I think for as magnificent as the first phase was, the second phase is going to be going to be tougher. This nation-building stuff can be hard, and I got confidence in the President’s team, but, but I think we need to proceed with some humility.”
