John Kerry, Joe Biden’s climate change envoy, met Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday – a man with a $15 million Justice Department bounty.
The Daily Mail reports, Kerry attended the COP27 climate change conference in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, as he was caught shaking hands and conversing with Maduro.
DoJ charged Maduro in March 2020 with nacro-terrorism, corruption, and drug trafficking, and offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
The handshake was described as disgusting by Biden’s critics.
‘Once again, @JoeBiden’s admin is cozying up to brutal dictators like @NicolasMaduro,’ tweeted Rick Scott, the Florida senator whose state is home to the largest community of Venezuelans in the U.S.
Meanwhile, A State Department spokesperson attempted to downplay the encounter.
FOX News reports that State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Kerry was meeting with someone else when Maduro interrupted him.
“He briefly spoke to Special Envoy Kerry during COP27,” Price said. “This was not… planned or substantive in any way.”
“As far as that conversation goes, it was unplanned. It was non-substantive as well,” Price said. “[Kerry] was caught by surprise. I understand that Nicolas Maduro has done this to a number of world leaders.”
Kerry shaking hands and even conversing with a man who has a $15 million bounty from the Justice Department sends a sign to the rest of the world that America tolerates socialist dictators. This kind of behavior is completely unacceptable and un-American. It’s time for the public to make this video go viral and expose those who reject our democratic values and embrace socialism. The Biden administration needs to make it clear that they do not support or condone this type of behavior. The safety and well-being of our country depends on it.
