Raging Moderates: Can Democrats Criticize Trump’s Invasion Without Defending Maduro?

AI had the time of my life. AI never failed this way before. From building timelines to assigning the right people and even spotting risks across dozens of projects, Monday Sidekick knows your business, thinks ahead, and takes action. One click on the star and consider it done. And I owe it all to you. Try Monday Sidekick, AI you'll love to use, on monday.com. Welcome to Raging Moderates. I'm Jessica Tarlov. It's 2026. It's been wild so far. Scott isn't here, but Ben Mysales, cofounder of the Midas Touch network, the largest pro democracy network out there. I'm sure all of you who are listening are subscribers and have certainly consumed his content, over the past few years, know him. Ben, welcome to the show. Happy New Year. Great to be here, Jessica. Yeah. It's always fun. Like, I love Scott, obviously. But when I'm thinking about who'd be a fun cohost to have when he is out partying for longer, than everyone else gets. His vacations are supercharged. Like, he takes all of August off. I don't know if you know that about him. But, anyway, I thought I was like, oh, is this the time when Ben and I can hang? And so I'm thrilled that you came to hang. Well, you and I have wanted to do this for a very long time, and I really respect and love the work that, you do. And Scott will be missed on this episode, but I'm sure he can, enjoy his vacation. As I used to say when I was a litigator, you never get in the way of somebody's vacation. So enjoy. No. Scott wouldn't let you get in the way of it anyway. So thrilled to be doing this. A lot to cover. We're gonna talk about Nicholas Maduro in court. He's here in New York City with me, which is so bizarre, and the democratic response to what's been going on, the scandal that took down Tim Walz, and the backlash over a new billionaire tax proposal in California where you are, not a billionaire yet, but you probably have some views about taxing the rich. Let's dive right in. Like I said, Maduro no longer ruling Venezuela. He's in a holding cell in Brooklyn. He was in a US courtroom on Monday where he pleaded not guilty to narcoterrorism charges and claimed that he was, quote, kidnapped, which, actually, I don't think is completely off base. The Trump administration says this wasn't a war regime change, but a law enforcement operation. They're just helping out Pam Bondi. Democrats, of course, agree that Maduro is a brutal dictator. You would look like an idiot if you didn't. But they're furious about how this went down. No advance briefing, no authorization from Congress, and now talk from Trump about The US, quote, running Venezuela. Political risk for Democrats is very clear. Look like you're defending the constitution without looking like you're defending Maduro or rooting against …