(NewsNation) — Following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend, many wonder how the shift in global politics will impact Americans.
On Saturday morning, U.S. forces captured Maduro following an overnight strike on Venezuela and transported him to New York City, where he and his wife face drug charges.
NewsNation contributor Sean Spicer, former press secretary for the Trump administration; independent journalist Rachael Bade; and former Democratic adviser Dan Turrentine from the new podcast “The Huddle,” joined NewsNation’s “Morning in America” to break down the potential impacts of the capture.
Maduro’s capture means ‘cheaper oil’: Spicer
Spicer told “Morning in America” that Maduro’s capture will likely have two main impacts on Americans: “More economic security, we’re gonna get cheaper oil” and “most importantly, it stabilizes the region.”
He described the impacts as the “two things Americans care about in general and what they vote on.”
Some experts, however, are not as convinced of the direct economic implications of Maduro’s capture. Energy Economics Professor Ed Hirs told NewsNation, “With gasoline, we’re not going to see any impact.”
“And this was the case when President George W. Bush went into Iraq and members of Congress thought, well, now we have the Iraqi oil reserves. Well, that didn’t work out very well for us or for Iraq,” Hirs added.
‘The idea that Trump should have gone to Congress before this is silly’
Turrentine described the recent pushback from Democrats over the Trump administration’s failure to seek congressional approval before the capture as “silly.”
“No president in the last 40 years went to Congress before similar strikes,” Turrentine said, pointing to the killing of Osama Bin Laden during the Obama administration in 2011.
Turrentine also pointed to overarching questions that remain about the country’s transition of power, saying that it’s unclear who will ensure the Venezuelan “government is functioning and the police are paid.”
‘Republicans are largely unified’ on Maduro’s capture
As Congress returns from recess on Monday, the strike on Venezuela will be front and center, as most lawmakers weren’t aware of the mission.
Bade said she expects the political response to Maduro’s capture will “largely fall upon party lines,” with “a lot of Republicans rallying behind the president.”
She says a significant portion of the MAGA base that were skeptical of strikes on Iran last summer have “jumped on board with this very quickly, so Republicans are largely unified.”
Bade added that many Democrats “are out there criticizing the president,” so there will inevitably be some “inter-party griping.”
NewsNation’s Jackie Koppell and Alicia Nieves contributed to this report.
