Eric Adams Slams Biden-Harris Admin For Playing ‘Political Game’ After Placing Bounty On Maduro’s Head Before Leaving
Democratic former New York Mayor Eric Adams accused the Biden-Harris administration of treating public safety like a “political game” after placing a $25 million bounty on Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro before leaving office.
Adams hit back at criticism of the recent US action against Maduro in an article published on Saturday. The mayor argued that calling someone a “narcodictator” one year and then objecting when action is taken the next year is “cynical and irresponsible.”
“Public safety is not a political game,” Adams wrote. “You don’t call someone a narco-dictator one year and then pretend they no longer pose a threat just because another president is in power.” (RELATED: “The full wrath of American justice”: Trump admin announces indictment of Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro)
On January 10, 2025, the Biden-Harris administration placed a $25 million bounty on Nicolás Maduro for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
Public safety is not a political game.
You don’t call someone a narco-dictator for a year and then claim they’re no longer a… https://t.co/KC8qzUFTLc pic.twitter.com/iPHSm2DppQ
– Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) January 4, 2026
Adams highlighted the human toll of Maduro’s drug trafficking operations, citing the 2023 death of 2-year-old Nicholas Feliz Dominici from fentanyl poisoning at a Bronx daycare.
“Maduro’s drugs have killed thousands of Americans and continue to put our children at risk,” Adams said. “America is safer today because Maduro is no longer in power.”
Her remarks come after former Vice President Kamala Harris criticized President Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela as “unlawful and reckless” in an article published Saturday. Harris characterized this regime change as motivated by oil rather than drugs or democracy.
The Biden administration increased the bounty for Maduro from $15 million to $25 million in January 2025. The State Department increased the reward after Maduro assumed a third term despite showing no evidence of winning the July 2024 election, the New York Times reported at the time.
Federal prosecutors had charged Maduro with narcoterrorism and cocaine trafficking in 2020.
