Pence: ‘Delcy Rodríguez is not the right leader’ for Venezuela

Mike Pence on Sunday said Delcy Rodríguez is not the right leader for Venezuela in the aftermath of the United States' capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Speaking with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union,” the former vice president said he supported President Donald Trump’s capture of Maduro but broke with the president over his support of Rodríguez, Maduro's former vice president.

“Delcy Rodríguez is not the right leader for Venezuela going forward,” Pence said. “I think it should be the objective of the United States to move forward as quickly as possible to restore basic liberties, to restore free market principles. Do that through free and fair elections.”

Rodríguez, a strong supporter of Maduro, has been serving as the Venezuela president since Jan. 3. Following Maduro’s capture, Trump threw his support behind her, referring to Rodríguez as a “terrific person" and saying the interim president will “make Venezuela great again.”

Pence’s criticism of Rodríguez comes shortly after the Associated Press reported that Rodríguez has been labeled a “priority target” of the Drug Enforcement Administration since 2022 and just days after Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado met with Trump.

Though the White House has said its goal is to establish fair elections in Venezuela, it is unclear when the next election will occur. Administration officials have repeatedly said it is too soon to know as the country continues to reel from Maduro’s capture.

Still, Sen. John Cornyn told "Fox News Sunday" that Trump “has multiple levers to use with Delcy Rodriguez.”

“The president said that we've learned the lessons from Iraq that collapsing the existing governing regime and creating an insurgency can result in a long war that they are trying to avoid in Venezuela,” the Texas Republican said.

Pence’s criticism of the president also extended to his strategy for controlling Greenland.

Though there is an "absolute" national security interest in controlling and ultimately owning the Denmark-owned territory, Pence said, he is concerned about how Trump plans to go about achieving that control.

“I have concerns about using what I think is a questionable constitutional authority, imposing unilateral tariffs on NATO allies, to achieve this objective," Pence said, referring to a 10 percent tariff imposed on eight European countries opposing Trump’s attempts to gain control of Greenland.

"I do think that the current posture, which I hope will change and abate, does threaten to fracture that strong relationship not just with Denmark, but with all of our NATO allies," Pence added.

Cornyn said that while Greenland is “strategically located,” he believes any military action is not in the cards at this time.

“Greenland and the Danes have been our allies for a long time now,” Cornyn told "Fox News Sunday." “President Trump is the dealmaker, and I expect him to make a deal.”