The Trump administration’s recognition of Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president has provoked criticism from independent journalists but cheers from an unexpected quarter: his domestic foes.

“Donald Trump, Mike Pence and Marco Rubio got to decide who is president of Venezuela. That’s democracy you guys,” tweeted journalist Rania Khalek, who also predicted that the same media outlets hating on Trump all day would applaud the move.

Donald Trump, Mike Pence and Marco Rubio got to decide who is president of Venezuela. That’s democracy you guys — Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) January 23, 2019

This move by Trump to facilitate a coup in Venezuela by recognizing an unelected leader as its president will almost certainly be supported by all the corporate outlets that spend all day insisting they hate Trump. https://t.co/HULPNPpoPu — Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) January 23, 2019

Trump’s declaration of who should lead Venezuela is “totally not meddling” in another country’s internal affairs, was the sarcastic take from commentator Mark Sleboda, referring to accusations by the US establishment that Russia “meddled” in the 2016 presidential election.

The US seems set on sparking a civil war in Venezuela. Declaring their own Venezuelan President. Totally not meddling. https://t.co/7Cm8B8H5kD — Mark Sleboda (@MarkSleboda1) January 23, 2019

Journalist Sarah Lazare pointed out that Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, “both on the far right,” have teamed up against Venezuela’s socialist president Nicolas Maduro.

There should be far more alarm about the fact that Donald Trump and Jair Bolsanaro--both on the far right--are teaming up to dictate who Venezuela's president is. https://t.co/SGMN7ILgF5 — Sarah Lazare (@sarahlazare) January 23, 2019

Glenn Greenwald, a journalist who lives in Brazil and has criticized Bolsonaro, argued along the same lines – and quoted a colleague to add that disagreeing with US policy doesn’t mean sympathy for Maduro.

It's the US and Bolsonaro-led Brazil doing this together: declaring who the "real leader" of Venezuela is, with Canada now following. Exactly as @mehdirhasan says, recognizing the dangers of this intervention doesn't mean one harbors any sympathy or affection for Maduro: https://t.co/mHiBQAYUtA — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 23, 2019

A Fusion journalist agreed that US meddling will not end well.

Whatever you think of the current regime in Venezuela, you cannot possibly think that the Trump administration moving in will end well there. — Nando (@nandorvila) January 23, 2019

The only thing Wednesday’s declaration will accomplish is to make the life “really miserable” for the people of Venezuela, argued commentator George Szamuely.

Short of actual invasion of Venezuela, the US will not be able to remove Maduro from power. The US can however make life really miserable for the people of Venezuela. In other words, standard US operating procedure. — George Szamuely (@GeorgeSzamuely) January 23, 2019

TV producer Mike Prysner had the same sentiment, graphically illustrating the character of Venezuela’s opposition.

The opposition trying to take power with Trump’s backing in Venezuela is the SAME opposition that BURNED ALIVE a young man, as the mob screamed “hey Black guy, this is what happens to Chavistas” pic.twitter.com/Rc3kaSPHl3 — Mike Prysner (@MikePrysner) January 23, 2019

Even some of Trump’s supporters were unhappy with the move. Journalist Jack Posobiec reacted by quoting Trump’s own disavowal of regime change from 2016.

“We will stop racing to topple foreign regimes that we know nothing about that we shouldn't be involved with”Donald Trump, 2016 — Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) January 23, 2019

But while one would expect that the anti-Trump #Resistance would jump at the opportunity to condemn an actual meddling the president got himself into, journalist Aaron Mate and media critics from OffGuardian pointed out it appears to be the other way round.

The silence (or even support) so far from leading Democrats & their media partisans on this US-backed coup attempt in Venezuela says a lot about their commitment to being an actual anti-Trump resistance & to opposing foreign interference https://t.co/mGgexfe3lW — Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) January 23, 2019

Where's the #Resistance? Aren't they going to criticize #Trump for interfering in #Venezuela's democracy?Hang on...aren't #Russia and Venezuela allies? Why is #Putin ordering his puppet to undermine and destabilize his ally? Can a #Russiagate expert explain this to us? https://t.co/gukqzCdAjK — OffGuardian (@OffGuardian0) January 23, 2019

Ana Navarro – an outspoken Trump-hating pundit for CNN – cheered on the intervention, while carefully making sure she did not give president any credit.

I don’t know what exactly this will translate into inside Venezuela. Ultimately, it has to be freedom-loving Venezuelans who oust Maduro. But international solidarity matters. This sends the message that the Unites States stands on the side of freedom & against their oppressor. https://t.co/N5tge4UZgV — Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) January 23, 2019

One can’t help but wonder if the “rules-based world order” exempts the US.

Here's a helpful visual guide, in case some people are confused. pic.twitter.com/R6JxiApyUb — Nebojša Malić (@NebojsaMalic) January 23, 2019

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