Right-Wing Media Joins White House Push For Regime Change In Cuba
Right-wing media figures are helping administration officials lay the groundwork for regime change in Cuba in what would potentially be the latest unprovoked act of military aggression by the Trump White House.
MAGA media figures have long embraced a Trumpy version of the Monroe Doctrine, the notion that the United States has the right to exert dominance over the Western Hemisphere. As the second Trump administration has pursued more openly imperialist ambitions, many conservative pundits have cheered on the White House every step of the way, including when the administration started to threaten Cuba.
If Trump does attack Cuba, it may be an attempt to replicate what he sees as the successful operation to capture Nicolás Maduro, the former president of Venezuela — in contrast to the administration’s increasingly unpopular war on Iran.
On May 20, deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller appeared on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime to discuss the Justice Department’s indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro.
“Today, finally, accountability is coming for Castro,” Miller said, before offering the administration’s case for escalation.
“Cuba, positioned just a 45-minute flight from American shores, has been a staging ground for America's adversaries for decades,” Miller said. “It is the last outpost of communism. It is the last outpost of the Cold War. American presidents for generations have tried to deal with the problem, the threat of this communist foothold just miles away from American shores.”
“And President Trump,” Miller argued, “has brought us closer than ever to the day when Cuba will be free and when Cuba will no longer be a threat to America but Cuba will be a friend and partner to America, which is essential for our national security.”
Watters responded: “Absolutely, and it will be a historic achievement if that does happen.”
A week earlier, Fox’s Sean Hannity interviewed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a longtime advocate for regime change in Cuba, aboard Air Force One.
“It’s my personal opinion, you cannot change the economic trajectory of Cuba as long as the people who are in charge of it now are in charge of it. That’s what’s going to have to change,” Rubio said.
Hannity agreed and speculated about the possibilities for U.S. capital to flood the country. “If these people are not in charge, I mean, I can envision American wealth and companies — it could become the destination.”
Amid a report that the Cuban government was considering using drones to attack the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay or Key West, Florida, MAGA streamer Benny Johnson speculated the leaked intelligence could be a “pretext” for launching a war — though he appeared to support the administration’s overall goal.
“I don't buy this,” Johnson said. “Right? Like, why would Cuba ever consider doing this unless it was a false flag — unless it's a false flag that's getting set up by the American administration, and that's what I believe that this is.”
Despite acknowledging the intelligence could be false, Johnson concluded the segment by seemingly endorsing military action.
“Expect this to pop off any day now,” he said. “Hopefully, Iran signs a peace deal, and then we can get Cuba done, as they say.”
For months, some of the loudest voices suggesting regime change in Cuba have come from right-wing Spanish-language media, a trend that has continued into May.
On May 5, Fox Noticias host Andrea Linares said that before there could be any foreign investment in Cuba, “there would have to be a total regime change.”
On May 19, Augustin Acosta, co-host of Actualidad Radio's Cada Tarde, argued that if Trump “believes he can fix Cuba while leaving the regime in power, the president is either completely wrong or has started to lose his mind.”
“In Cuba there is nothing that can be fixed — absolutely nothing that can be fixed — while leaving the dictatorship in power,” Acosta added. “That is absolutely impossible.”
Still, there are already some signs of discontent in right-wing media. Newsmax host Rob Finnerty questioned the wisdom of “another foreign entanglement” in addition to the Venezuela operation and the Iran war, which has caused gas prices to skyrocket across the country.
“According to two new polls — and say what you want about the polling, but it's not good,” Finnerty said. “People are clearly losing their patience.”
He added: “I think people struggle with how this is America First when gas is $4.55 a gallon right now.”
Reprinted with permission from Media Matters
