Marco Rubio was visibly irritated when he recalled that despite the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro, the dictator’s regime is still in power in Venezuela.
“I’m curious why the Trump administration decided to leave [Maduro’s regime] intact and arrest only Nicolás Maduro and his wife,” asked host Margaret Brennan Facing the Nation Sunday, pointing to others in Maduro’s government who have been indicted in the United States
“I’m confused. Are they still wanted by the United States? Why haven’t you arrested them if you’re taking on the narcoterrorist regime?” she asked.
Marco Rubio hit out at Margaret Brennan after she said she was ‘confused’ about the logic of letting Maduro’s cronies back in. / CBS News
“You’re confused? I don’t know why this is confusing you,” Rubio replied, with Brennan repeating: “They’re still in power.”
The secretary of state attacked the CBS News host, saying there were already enough “complaints” about the capture of just one Venezuelan politician—and that the military operation was difficult enough as it was.
“You’re going to come in and suck five people? They’re already complaining about this one operation. Imagine the howls we’d get from everyone if we actually had to go and stay there four days to catch four more people,” said Rubio.
Rubio called Brennan ‘absurd’ for pointing out that others in the regime were wanted in the US / CBS News
“We got the highest priority. The number one person on the list was the guy who claimed to be the president of the country he wasn’t, and he was arrested together with his wife who is also accused. That was a sophisticated operation, and frankly complicated.”
As Brennan agreed with the complexity of the raid, Rubio continued: “It’s not easy for helicopters to land in the middle of the largest military base in the country. The guy lived on a military base. He landed within three minutes, barricaded his door, arrested him, handcuffed him, read him his rights, and left the country without losing any American or American assets.
“This is not an easy mission. You’re asking me why we didn’t do this in five other places at the same time? I mean, that’s absurd.”
Rubio said that the people are ‘already complaining’ about Maduro, and there would be more ‘howls’ if anyone else were capud. / CBS News
Rubio persisted in fawning over the operation, adding: “I think it’s one of the most, you know, daring, complicated, sophisticated missions this country has done in a very long time. Tremendous credit to the American military personnel who did it. It was incredible, and a tremendous success.
“And today, an accused drug trafficker—who was not the legitimate president of Venezuela, which we did not recognize, the Biden administration did not recognize, sixty something countries do not recognize, the European Union does not recognize, and many countries in Latin America do not recognize—was an accused drug trafficker. He was arrested, his wife was arrested—”
Brennan intercepted and again asked about the co-conspirators they left behind. “Right, but the others who were also charged are still in place, so that’s the point of my questioning there. You talked about not being the rightful president—”
The secretary of State added that it is ‘not easy’ to catch Maduro, and asked Brennan if she wants the operation to be repeated several times. / JUAN BARRETO / Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images
Rubio interrupted in turn, accusing: “So you wanted us to land on five more military bases?”
“No, I’m wondering why you chose that this was the limit of the military operation. To your point that you just made that Maduro was not the legitimate president,” Brennan replied.
“He was saying he’s the president,” Rubio said, turning to Brennan to specify: “He was the top target.”