I was very happy when Donald Trump nominated Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) as his Secretary of State, and he continues to shine.
Last week, Rubio was on the Hill to testify before Congress, and he unloaded on some Dems to the point that I would be surprised if they ever wanted to show their faces in public again.
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared on the Hill to get grilled on various subjects by Congress, and he more than held his own.
While some Senators encouraged him to call out the administration, such as Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-VT) telling Rubio, “I urge you to stand up to the extremists of the administration,” he held firm that the administration is on the right path.
The Democrats were not the only ones lobbing bombs at Rubio, either. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was critical of Trump's hardline stance with some of our allies.
McConnell stated, “The basic functions that soft power provides are extremely important. You get a whole lot of friends for not much money.”
Rubio took some shots at Senators that are sure to become internet memes in no time.
One of my favorites was Rubio hitting Senator Van Hollen (R-MD) over his trip to El Salvador to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Rubio actually landed two shots.
The first was when Van Hollen said he regretted confirming Rubio, to which Rubio replied, “May I respond? Well first of all, your regret for voting for me means that I’m doing a good job.” Van Hollen was furious, responding, “That’s just a flippant statement, Mr. Secretary.”
Then Rubio hit him on the trip, stating, “We deported gang members … including the one that you had a margarita with. And that guy is a human trafficker and that guy is a gangbanger and the evidence is gonna be clear. In the day to come, you’re gonna see who you went to defend.”
Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) also thought he had Rubio backed into a corner over Trump declaring South African farmers as refugees.
Kaine stated, “Can you have a different standard based upon the color of somebody’s skin? Would that be acceptable?” Rubio shot right back, “I’m not the one arguing that. Apparently, you are, because you don’t like the fact that they’re white.”
When Rubio added that the United States has the right to choose who it allows into the country, Kaine fired back, “Based on the color of their skin?” Rubio again returned fire, responding, “You’re the one that’s talking about the color of their skin, not me. These are people whose farms are being burned down and they were being killed because of the color of their skin.”
As I have stated in past reports, I think Rubio has been exceptional as our Secretary of State. He has been far from perfect, but overall, I think he has done an amazing job. And when called before Congress, he has had some great comebacks to their snide little hits. Well done, Mr. Rubio.
