Sen. Scott calls on Biden to recognize Gonzalez as 'legitimate president-elect of Venezuela'

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is calling on the Biden-Harris administration to recognize Edmundo González as the "legitimate president-elect of Venezuela" after his conversation with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.

According to Scott's office, since the election in Venezuela took place, the senator contacted the White House "repeatedly to schedule a call with President Biden."

The Organization of American States (OAS) is scheduled to hold a meeting on Wednesday on the results of the Venezuelan presidential election.

"At tomorrow’s OAS special meeting to address the results of the Venezuelan presidential election, the Biden-Harris administration must do the right thing and join other freedom-loving countries in recognizing Edmundo González as the legitimate President-elect of Venezuela," Scott said in a statement after his conversation with Machado.

"Since the Biden-Harris failed deal with dictator Nicolas Maduro, the regime has grown in strength and our Western Hemisphere has become more dangerous. U.S. adversaries like Russia, China, Cuba, and Iran are active in Venezuela at the dictator’s invitation," he added.

Scott argued that Maduro’s "massive fraud is a clear result of the Biden-Harris failed appeasement that has emboldened Maduro, who has just issued an arrest warrant for María Corina Machado, Edmundo González, and other opposition leaders."

He said González "must be immediately recognized as president-elect by the Biden-Harris administration.”

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., wrote on X that the Biden Administration easing some of the Trump administration's sanctions is not related to Maduro trying to steal the 2024 election.

"Republicans say the fact that Maduro is trying to steal the election if proof that Biden's policy didn't work. That's nonsense. Trump's sanctions policy just strengthened Maduro, and if Biden had continued that policy, Maduro would still rigged the election," Murphy wrote.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, said on Tuesday that "it’s long past time that the Biden-Harris administration imposes a maximum pressure campaign on the Chavista criminal dictatorship." He called on Biden to impose sanctions and the revoke the "oil licenses they foolishly approved that are currently bankrolling Maduro’s repressive apparatus."