'He's stupid': Author Don Winslow slams DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin's remarks on Venezuela

It's been over two months since the U.S. raided Venezuela and captured then-President Nicolás Maduro, and to this day, American pressure on the Latin American country has not stopped. Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, is managing the demands of President Donald Trump's administration, which reportedly wants to exert more control on the country's oil and mining industries. Since the operation, Trump's opposition has decried it and called the military action an illegal act. One of those critics is acclaimed author Don Winslow, who recently took to social media to criticize the new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, on the remarks he shared after the raids.

Back in January, a Republican Senator at the time, Mullin, spoke to reporters after the briefing on the military operation carried out in Venezuela. He extended support to the administration's decision, praising President Trump for having the "backbone" and carrying out the necessary operation to remove an "illegitimate leader." When asked if there would be a regime change, Mullin said Maduro was never duly elected, so "there can't be a regime change." However, when the reporter asked if the Vice President, Rodriguez, who became the acting president, was duly elected, the Congressman stated, "I don't know how their elections happened. I don't know if they're on the same ticket or separate." Referring to this remark, Winslow took to X and tore into the newly appointed DHS secretary. "Even stupid people think he's [Markwayne Mullin] stupid. God help us," the author wrote, sharing a clip of Mullin sharing his remarks. 

Following the military operation in Venezuela, Democratic leaders responded with anger, slamming it as an illegal act carried out without required congressional approval. "They literally lied to our face," Chris Murphy, the U.S. Senator from Connecticut, told reporters at the time, as per The Guardian. Murphy claimed that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had earlier presented the operation as "just a counter-narcotics operation."

As of March, the Trump administration has taken control of Venezuela's oil and is continuing to push the country toward U.S.-aligned policies for its oil and mining industries. Several high-ranking officials, including  CIA Director John Ratcliffe, U.S. Energy Minister Chris Wright, and U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, have visited the country to advance U.S. interests. Meanwhile, Nicolás Maduro is facing trial in a U.S. court over "narco-terrorism" conspiracy and cocaine trafficking, and weapons offenses, according to the BBC.

Meanwhile, Winslow, who has been a staunch critic of President Trump and his policies, also criticized the military action in the Middle East. Reacting to the reports of the U.S. sending ground troops to Iran, Winslow took a dig at the move and the action of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, demanding that Trump send them to Iran instead of young soldiers. "Since ICE is your own private army, why not send them to fight in Iran instead of some 18-year-old kid who will be maimed, disfigured, and possibly killed because of your stupidity and insanity? (imo)," he wrote.