In January 2026, after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during an overnight mission in Caracas that reportedly left dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban officers dead, a claim (archived) circulated online that former Vice President Kamala Harris said, "Venezuela is a country, but we don't live there, so it's not our country. And when we go there, we are in another country."
One X user who shared the claim commented, "Kamala in deep thought after Maduro's capture…"
😂 Kamala in deep thought after Maduro's capture…
" Venezuela is a country, but we don't live there… so it's not our country… and when we go there, we are in another country."
Spot on Dahlia! pic.twitter.com/qujId6feru— Jake (@JakeCan72) January 5, 2026
The alleged quote also spread on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived) and Threads (archived). Some claims shared a TikTok video (archived), which in turn appeared to be based on a separate Instagram post (archived) that all furthered the claim. Snopes readers searched our site to find out if Harris really spoke the reported words.
We found no evidence that Harris actually said, "Venezuela is a country, but we don't live there, so it's not our country. And when we go there, we are in another country."
We reached out to Harris' office to ask about the quote. We also reached out to Terrence K. Williams, a comedian who posted an early version of the quote, to ask for his source. We await replies to our queries and will update this story if we receive further information.
Searches of Google, Yahoo, Bing and DuckDuckGo revealed no credible reports of the quote, which, given the international interest in the U.S. mission in Venezuela and Harris' high profile as a former vice president, would likely have been widely reported if true (archived, archived, archived, archived).
We also found no reports or posts from before Jan. 3, 2026, that indicated Harris spoke the alleged quote.
At the time of this writing, the most recent reporting about Harris and Venezuela centered on a post (archived) on the former VP's X account on Jan. 3, the date the Trump administration announced the capture of Maduro.
Donald Trump's actions in Venezuela do not make America safer, stronger, or more affordable.
That Maduro is a brutal, illegitimate dictator does not change the fact that this action was both unlawful and unwise. We've seen this movie before. Wars for regime change or oil that…— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 4, 2026
Harris criticized the mission, writing, "Donald Trump's actions in Venezuela do not make America safer, stronger, or more affordable," and accused Trump of wanting to "play the regional strongman."
Harris' January 2026 post did not contain the alleged quote, nor did a previous post (archived) about Venezuela from 2019, in which she called for Venezuelans to receive Temporary Protected Status, a legal status that nationals of certain designated countries can apply for.