Joe Biden carefully avoided publicly supporting or condemning the brief April 2002 coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Senior Bush administration officials had met with some of the Venezuelan coup plotters before the attempted putsch, refused to condemn the removal of a democratically elected government, and falsely claimed that Chávez had resigned. Despite these revelations, Biden equivocated on the coup during an appearance on CNN. “Let me choose my words here,” Biden said, describing the administration as “somewhat inept” and calling the meeting with the coup leaders “maybe premature. And beyond that, I’d rather not comment.” The coup was quickly reversed, and Chávez returned to power with his elected term slated to run through 2007.
In December 2002, just months after the coup, Biden joined Republican lawmakers in calling for direct U.S. involvement in forcing early elections in Venezuela. “We have to ratchet this up,” Biden said. “We need someone of significant stature in that position.” With Chávez still in power in 2006 and threatening to cut off U.S. oil shipments in response to ongoing coup plots and threats of U.S. sanctions, Biden denounced what he called an “axis of oil” that bestowed undue influence on anti-democratic governments. “Oil money makes Hugo Chávez believe he can take Fidel Castro’s place as the prime anti-American troublemaker,” Biden declared.
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
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