Real estate executive Alex Witkoff, the son of Donald Trump-appointed special envoy Steve Witkoff, was hammered by critics after citing his own brother’s death as a justification for the Trump administration’s attack and takeover of Venezuela, with some critics calling Witkoff’s remarks “sick” and “twisted.”
Witkoff’s brother, Andrew Witkoff, died of a drug overdose in 2011. Witkoff cited the death in a social media post attacking those criticizing the attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of its president, with the Trump administration having justified the attack as a means to combat drug trafficking.
“Anyone who defends [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro is turning their back on tens of millions of American families afflicted by this drug overdose crisis every single day,” Witkoff wrote.
A wave of critics were quick to point out, however, that Witkoff’s brother died of an OxyContin overdose, a drug aggressively pushed by the American pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma that is not produced in Venezuela.
“Below is from your [family’s] lawsuit against the treatment center where your brother overdosed on OxyContin,” wrote journalist Max Blumenthal in a social media post on X, alongside a screenshot of the Witkoff’s family’s lawsuit against a California rehab center.
“OxyContin is produced by the Sacklers, not Venezuela. Twisted to exploit a tragic family loss as fodder for a potential financial gain in the Trump Inc plunder of Venezuela.”
Others, like X user “Michael S,” a frequent political commentator, described Witkoff’s remarks as a “sick” attempt to use his “brothers OD to sell a regime change war.”
The social media platform’s own crowd-sourced fact-checking service, “Community Notes,” also hit Witkoff’s social media post with a note, clarifying that Venezuela plays no role in the production of OxyContin.
The news outlet Drop Site News jumped into the fray as well, hammering Witkoff for connecting Venezuela to his own brother’s death, and reminding the real estate executive that his supposed outrage was better suited for American drugmakers.
“Venezuela does not produce OxyContin, does not control its supply chain, and played no role in the Sackler-driven opioid epidemic,” the outlet wrote in a social media post on X.
“The crisis was fueled by Purdue’s false claims about addiction risk and mass over-prescription by U.S. doctors. No member of the Sackler family faced criminal charges or prison time.”
Venezuela has nothing to do with OxyContin, the drug that Andrew Witkoff reportedly overdosed on and died from in 2011.
OxyContin was created, marketed, and aggressively pushed by Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family. In the United States, over 500,000 people have died… https://t.co/Qa7FF4Wehu
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) January 4, 2026