On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio annihilated Senate Democrats in a hearing on the Trump administration’s foreign policy agenda.
Rubio’s appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was intended for him to present the administration’s 2026 State Department budget. Democrats took this as an opportunity to attack their former colleague on his role in the administration.
In the hearing, leftist Sen. Chris Van Hollen (MD) told Rubio directly, "I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you as Secretary of State."
“Your regret voting for me confirms I’m doing a good job,” Rubio retorted.
Sen. Van Hollen: "I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you as Secretary of State." @SecRubio: "Your regret voting for me confirms I’m doing a good job."
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 20, 2025
MIC. DROP. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZH0IAwgIYz
Rubio responded to Van Hollen’s rant about the Trump administration’s policies. Rubio laid out all the different initiatives that the administration cut funding to in recent months. Many of these were under the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which DOGE gutted earlier this year.
Additionally, Rubio stood by the administration’s decision to expel Venezuela gang members from the United States, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, “the one you had a margarita with,” Rubio told Van Hollen.
“That guy is a human trafficking. That guy is a gang banger. The evidence is going to be clear,” Rubio said before Van Hollen tried interjecting.
Things get HEATED when @SecRubio is allowed to respond to Sen. Van Hollen's absurd 7-minute attack of the work he's done as Secretary of Sate 👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/wyc8y4oppm
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 20, 2025
In the hearing, Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine got into a heated argument with Rubio about the South African refugees who were recently welcomed into the United States.
"You don't like the fact that they're white,” Rubio asserted when Kaine suggested that the South Africans were welcomed into the states because of their skin color.
🚨MARCO RUBIO TO DEMOCRAT TIM KAINE ON WHITE SOUTH AFRICAN REFUGEES:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 20, 2025
"You don't like the fact that they're white." pic.twitter.com/jMk7VoAZnO
“This notion that somehow we have to accept anyone who wants to come to the United States is absurd,” Rubio said. “No country in the world has an immigration policy like that.”
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