Lake Condemns Fraudulent Venezuela Election Results

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro declared himself the winner of Sunday's elections despite results suggesting opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez received the most votes. Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake (R) denounced the apparent fraudulent victory on X (formerly Twitter), saying the South American country represents "a cautionary tale" about socialism.

Just before the results were announced, Lake retweeted a post showing footage from the Venezuelan city of La Guaira, where hundreds of people, in a display of remarkable courage, refused to leave the polling center until all of the votes were counted.

"The people of the world demand fair and honest elections. No more communism," said Lake.

A second tweet, approximately an hour later, by Lake retweeted a timeline posted by journalist Melissa Tate showing Venezuela's decline from the third-richest country in the Western Hemisphere to one of the poorest. The timeline concluded with "it only took one generation of progressive leadership to plunge this country into civil war," which Lake called "a cautionary tale."

After the results were released, Lake accused the media of legitimizing Maduro's victory despite evidence of fraud, saying, "The media is complicit in what is happening in Venezuela (and what has happened in America). When will journalists in ALL countries stop lying to the people and stand up for truth and freedom?"

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) was equal in his condemnation of the Venezuelan election results, blaming the Biden Administration for relieving sanctions on the promise of free and fair elections.

"Biden & Harris broadly eased Trump sanctions on Maduro regime as part of a 'deal' for elections in Venezuela. Today was that election, and it was a complete fraud. The latest example of how our enemies have suckered Biden and Harris repeatedly over the last four years," said Rubio on X.

Florida Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) released a similar statement, describing how the Maduro regime cracked down on opposition leaders, calling Venezuela "a dangerous malign influence in our hemisphere" and said the Biden Administration was "appeasing our enemies and tossing a lifeline to repressive dictatorships."