Sunny Hostin Denounces Maduro Arrest as ‘Kidnapping,’ White House Pushes Back [WATCH]

“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin sharply criticized the U.S. operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, calling it a “kidnapping” and accusing the United States of violating international law during remarks on the ABC talk show.

As Fox News reported, Hostin made the comments during a segment of The View following the weekend operation, known as “Operation Absolute Resolve,” in which U.S. military and intelligence agencies coordinated the arrest of Maduro.

While Maduro’s rule has long been described by critics as authoritarian, Hostin argued the Trump administration exceeded its authority in carrying out the mission.

“It’s not legal because it violates international law, right?” Hostin said.

She claimed that “the U.S. government killed over 100 people, including civilians and military in Venezuela during this kidnapping and capture, and international law doesn’t allow it unless Congress declares war, and Congress did not do that.”

Hostin continued by arguing the operation bypassed constitutional limits on executive power.

“So this country was founded on the premise of the balance of power, right?” she said.

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“So you have a [sic] checks and balances. So you have co-equal powers — co-equal branches of power. So you have the judicial branch, and then you have the executive branch, which the president is a part of, and then you have, of course, the legislative branch, and that’s Congress, and they are supposed to check each other. This president is doing whatever the heck he wants without any checks or balances, and I have never in my lifetime seen this type of regime change, which is what we just saw, work out well for the United States. It just doesn’t work, and in my view, this is completely, completely, 100% illegal.”

Later in the episode, Hostin suggested economic motivations were behind the operation, pointing to Venezuela’s oil reserves. She compared U.S. actions to piracy and imperialism.

“The thing that’s interesting to me is Venezuela — I don’t think a lot of people know — owns 20% of the world’s oil. More than Saudi Arabia,” Hostin said.

She added that while the administration cited narco-terrorism, “when you look at the indictment, it’s about drugs being brought to this country.”

She went on to ask, “Isn’t anyone concerned about the fact that what we’re doing is almost piracy? It’s like imperialism. We’re going to another country, and we’re taking their natural resources for ourselves and on top of it, if we can do something like this, who is to say that Vladimir Putin, then, doesn’t go to Ukraine and arrest Zelenskyy?”

Co-host Ana Navarro also raised concerns about the operation but said the arrest reflected the views of many in South Florida, particularly among Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, and Cuban communities.

“For us, this is a very, very happy day when we see a dictator who has been part of oppressing and abusing the Venezuelan people for 25 years, when we see him in handcuffs and held to some sort of accountability, it brought me to tears. It brought me great joy,” Navarro said.

“I think both things can be true,” she added.

“I think you can criticize and ask questions and have concerns about the way it was done and what this means in the future, and I think you can still celebrate that this murderous, corrupt, sadistic son of a b—- is out of Venezuela because he has, I think, 8 million Venezuelan exiles all over the world.”

Following the segment, Fox News Digital contacted the White House for comment. A spokesperson defended the operation and rejected Hostin’s claims.

“Over 60 countries around the world held that Nicolas Maduro was an illegitimate ruler, and the Biden administration had a reward for information leading to his arrest,” the spokesperson said.

“Only President Donald Trump had the strength and courage to actually arrest Maduro for committing narco-terrorism against the United States. Liberal pundits will flip-flop on anything – even holding criminal drug lords accountable – in order to attack President Trump, but the President will always protect our homeland and put the American people first.”

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