On Friday, January 9, 2026, Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) called out the Trump administration during remarks on the House floor over their alleged ‘lies’ about the Venezuelan operation and other ongoing issues.
Addressing House Speaker Mike Johnson, Dean said, “Mr Speaker, perhaps the greatest casualty of the Donald Trump administration is the truth. The president and the courtiers who encircle him traffic intentionally and carelessly in falsehoods, misinformation, and lies.”
Citing Trump’s recent military operation in Venezuela, which led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Dean claimed, “Consider just the last seven days. On Venezuela, they lied when they said it was about oil.”
Donald Trump is lying to you.
We must see through this administration’s callousness. pic.twitter.com/DVU1JGtmfr
— Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (@RepDean) January 10, 2026
“Witness the January and December presidential pardons of the two biggest narcotraffickers,” she added, in reference to Trump pardoning Ross William Ulbricht, who created the “dark web” site called Silk Road, used by drug traffickers, in January 2025 and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted for trafficking 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S., in December 2025.
“Whether it was the repeated murder of unidentified people in small boats or last Saturday’s extraordinary capture of Maduro, they lied, saying they would not attack Venezuela before going to Congress,” Dean added, highlighting how the Congress was unaware of Trump’s attack on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
The U.S. Rep further addressed how the Trump administration attempted to rewrite history on the fifth anniversary of the January 6 Capitol riot by creating a new webpage that labeled the rioters as “peaceful” and blamed the Capitol police for “escalating tensions” with their response.
Speaking about the webpage, Dean said, “The president continues his dangerous lies supported by the speaker of the house. The White House is going so far as an attempt to whitewash history on the official website of the White House, even blaming Capitol police for the president’s deadly insurrection.”
Additionally, she also acknowledged the January 7 Minneapolis ICE shooting incident that claimed the life of 37-year-old mother-of-three, Renee Nicole Good.
“And now on the deadly ice shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother in Minneapolis, grotesquely lying and misidentifying a woman they did not know even before her family could identify her body,” the Rep stated.
Madeleine Dean concluded her statement, saying, “Mr. Speaker, we are better than this. America is better than this craven crowd.” She also posted the video on her official Facebook account with the caption, “Donald Trump is lying to you.”
On X (formerly Twitter), she further added, “We must see through this administration’s callousness.” Several social media users flocked to the comments section to appreciate Dean for her strong statement.
“Donald Trump always lies. There are those who understand that, those who don’t, and those who don’t care,” one user wrote in agreement with the Rep. “Very well said,” another added wrote. “Courage. Thank you,” a third commentator mentioned.
