Each of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have remained silent about the military uprising in Venezuela on Tuesday. Even Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a self-proclaimed socialist who received the endorsement of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in 2016, has been able to avoid speaking about the clearest case of socialist ruin and oppression in recent decades.

In fact, CNN’s Brooke Baldwin interviewed Sanders on Tuesday afternoon, but she refused to ask him a single question on Venezuela. She did not ask about Maduro’s endorsement or about Sanders’s refusal to call Maduro a dictator this past February. Immediately after the interview, she turned to the uprising against the socialist tyranny, as if tacitly admitting that she was too afraid to ask Sanders about it seconds before.

As the Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra pointed out, Baldwin interviewed Sanders for 12 minutes, and did not ask him a single question about Venezuela.

CNN's Brooke Baldwin failed to ask socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) a single question about Venezuela allegedly firing on protesters and running them over with armored military vehicles. Baldwin didn't even mention Venezuela during her *12-minute* live segment with him today — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 30, 2019

Immediately after interviewing Sanders, Baldwin turned to Venezuela, as if the two stories had nothing in common.

After ending the interview with Sanders, @BrookeBCNN immediately brought up what was going on in Venezuela. This is why Americans hate the media pic.twitter.com/RlnalWsRK2 — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 30, 2019

Yet Sanders’s advocacy for big government takeovers of various industries — most recently the health care industry — could bring the same kind of poverty and tyranny Venezuela is currently experiencing to the United States of America. America’s freedom and prosperity are far from guaranteed — in fact, these benefits are extremely rare in world history, while government oppression is far too common.

Self-declared democratic socialists like Sanders and Rep.s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) should address the struggle for freedom in Venezuela. Perhaps they do not do so because they sympathize with the repressive socialist Maduro regime. Their silence raises questions about their loyalties.

So, democratic socialists @AOC, @RashidaTlaib, & @BernieSanders are silent as the people of Venezuela rise up against socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro (who endorsed Bernie in 2016). Do they oppose the struggle for freedom against big gov tyranny? #OperaciónLibertad — Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) April 30, 2019

During the insurrection, protesters were crushed by armored cars. Yet not a single Democratic presidential candidate spoke out about this horror.

Protesters in Venezuela are getting run over by armored cars, & 2020 Dems are silent. Nicolas Maduro endorsed @BernieSanders in 2016. Why don't @PeteButtigieg, @JoeBiden, @CoryBooker or @KamalaHarris want to turn this into a wedge issue? Maybe they like oppressive socialism… — Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) April 30, 2019

CNN’s Brooke Baldwin should be ashamed of herself for not asking Sanders a pivotal question on the breaking news of the day — a question he should answer, given Maduro’s endorsement.

Democrats cannot ignore the horrific tyranny in Venezuela or opposition leader Juan Guaidó’s struggle to liberate his country. After President Donald Trump has clearly declared that America will never be a socialist country, these Democrats will have to explain why the socialism that destroyed Venezuela is a good idea in America.

Or they could just reject socialism and big government takeovers of American industries. Who am I kidding?

Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.