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Rubio Sidesteps J6 Pardons by Declaring ‘I Work for Donald J. Trump’

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio refused to comment on President Donald Trump’s pardons and commutations of more than 1500 people convicted of crimes surrounding the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, including the insurrection — despite having denounced the attack in strong terms four years ago.

In three separate interviews on Tuesday — on ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News — when presented with his comments about the 2021 attack, Rubio declared that he would not discuss domestic issues because he is now Secretary of State.

CBS News’ Gayle King told Secretary Rubio, “in February 2021, even you issued a statement and you said the images of the attack stirred up anger in you, the nation was embarrassed in the eyes of the world by our own citizens.”

“How do you personally reconcile those feelings with the pardons that he did yesterday?” she asked. “I understand you have work to do in the job is hard for many things, but on this particular issue, I’m curious about what you’re thinking.”

“Yeah, well, what I’m thinking is that I used to be a United States senator until midnight last night, and now I’m going about to be sworn in as the Secretary of State of the United States,” Rubio curtly replied. “And that’s what I’m thinking is I work for Donald J. Trump, the new president of United States, the 47th president who has a clear mandate to reorient our foreign policy to one that once again puts America and our interests at the center. And that’s what I’m gonna focus on. A hundred percent.”

READ MORE: Trump Defends His TikTok Flip Flop: America Has ‘Bigger Problems’ Than Young Kids’ Privacy

In an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, Rubio would not budge, even when faced with more of his own comments from 2021.

“You called it a national embarrassment, saying we now have third world countries that are lecturing us and we have tinpot dictators that are mocking us,” Stephanopoulos told him. “Of course, you’re now America’s top diplomat. You’ll be speaking with your counterparts around the world. What message does that pardon send to them?”

“Well, I don’t anticipate a single one of our partners will ask about it, obviously, and you know this well, from your time in the [Clinton] administration and my job is to focus on the foreign policy of the United States,” Rubio continued. “I have a different job this morning and a different focus. And it’s one that demands 100% of our attention, and so that’s what I’ll be focused on and won’t be opining on domestic matters at this point, because, frankly, my focus needs to be 100% on how I interact with our, you know, counterparts, our adversaries, our potential enemies around the world to keep this country safe to make it prosperous.”

“That’s the clear mandate from the president,” he added. “It’s what he campaigned on.”

“But as a senator,” Stephanopoulos pressed, “you did say that it affected our standing in the world. Don’t believe that anymore?”

“Well,” Rubio, seemingly somewhat irritated, replied, “as a senator, I had an opinion all kinds of domestic matters, but now I’m focused singularly on foreign policy, on how I interact with our allies.”

President Trump’s pardons of the convicted January 6 attackers, including nearly 90 who committed acts of violence, even against law enforcement officers, were also the subject of Rubio’s interview with NBC News’ Craig Melvin on Tuesday.

According to Fox News, Melvin played video of Rubio saying in 2021, “Vladimir Putin loved everything that happened here today because what happened is better than anything he could have ever come up with to make us look like we’re falling apart.”

Melvin then “asked Rubio what message the pardons send to the rest of the world,” Fox reported.

But Rubio declared that he “would not ‘engage in domestic political debates’ with the media and could not in his role as the head of the State Department.”

READ MORE: Cannon Blocks Classified Docs Report as Trump Targets Ex-Officials Over ‘Sensitive’ Info

“I hope you guys all understand that my days – at least in the time at the Department of State – of engaging in domestic politics will be put aside as I focus on the affairs the United States has around the world and the engagements we have to have to make our country a safer, stronger, more prosperous place,” he said, after refusing to respond.

When pressed again, Rubio apparently expressed frustration.

“I think it’s unfortunate, you know, our first engagement as I agree to come on this morning with you. I’m going to be working on foreign policy issues, and you want to revisit these issues that are going on in domestic politics. I’m just – it’s not going to happen,” Rubio said. “If you have questions for me about foreign policy and engaging in the world, I’d be happy to talk to you about those.”

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READ MORE: Skipping Hand on Bible, Trump Declares ‘We Will Not Forget Our God’ at Inauguration

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Survey Shreds Trump’s Claim Millions of Protesters Don’t Represent America

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After nearly seven million people attended the nationwide “No Kings” rallies on Saturday — making them one of the largest single day protests in American history — President Donald Trump denounced participants as “not representative” of America.

“I looked at the people,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday.

“They’re not representative of this country, and I looked at all the brand new signs paid for. I guess it was paid for by Soros and other radical left lunatics,” he said. “It looks like it was worth checking out. The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective and the people were whacked out. When you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country.”

A survey of the Washington, D.C. protesters published by Axios suggests the President’s perception was inaccurate.

READ MORE: ‘Not Right in the Head’: Notorious Far Right Leader Fuentes Goes Off on ‘Weird’ Trump

“The typical attendee at the D.C. protest was an educated white woman in her 40s who heard about the event either through friends or via Instagram, according to preliminary data collected by American University researchers who track protest movements,” the news outlet reported. “The median age of participants of Saturday’s protest in D.C. was 44 years old.”

Nearly half (47%) identified themselves as “left.” Thirteen percent as slightly left, and 29% as “very” left.

Some of Trump’s allies spent last week alleging the protests were actually “hate America” rallies.

Ahead of the rallies, U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), the House Majority Whip, had said last week that the protesters were “the most radical, small, and violent base in the country.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson last week said participants at the rallies would be “the pro-Hamas wing and Antifa people, they’re all coming out.”

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Jeffries Torches Trump’s ‘Out of Control’ Press Secretary

Despite the millions in attendance at rallies across the country, there were few if any reports of violence by the No Kings protesters (although there were reports of “MAGA agitators” being violent.)

Overall, 86% were white and nearly six in ten (57%) were women.

“They’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump had said, but the president was the number one motivating factor that drove people to come out and protest in D.C. Eight out of ten named Trump as their top reason.

Immigration was the second driver, motivating 74% of attendees.

Politics and voting came in a close third (70%).

The federal workforce reduction and the funding freeze came in fourth at 69%, followed by racial justice/systemic racism (66%), social welfare including health care (62%) and LGBTQ+ rights (59%). Income and wealth inequality tied with women’s rights at 58%. Reproductive rights came in at 56%.

Dana Fisher, a professor at American University’s School of International Service, told Axios, “she’s surprised … that women’s rights and reproductive rights are no longer leading factors the way they were during Trump’s first term.”

READ MORE: Trump’s ICE Expands Spy Arsenal and Eyes ‘Antifa’: Report

 

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CNN’s Pam Brown Spars With GOP Rep. Blaming High Prices on Biden

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CNN Anchor Pamela Brown sparred with U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, the Chair of the House Republican Conference, who was blaming former President Joe Biden for soaring prices nine full months into the Trump administration. Trump during the presidential campaign promised to lower prices on day one.

“This isn’t a quick fix, right?” Congresswoman McClain told Brown on Monday. “The past four years dug a very deep hole for the American people.”

“It’s gonna take us a hot second to get out of it,” she insisted, “but I have all the confidence in President Trump that he absolutely is working for the American people to get us out of that devastating inflationary period under the last administration.”

Brown was not receptive.

READ MORE: ‘Not Right in the Head’: Notorious Far Right Leader Fuentes Goes Off on ‘Weird’ Trump

“But this administration is nine months in,” she reminded the Michigan lawmaker, “and President Trump had vowed to lower prices from day one, from very early on in the administration. So at what point is it?”

“Gas is down,” McClain declared. “Eggs is down.”

“I mean, we don’t talk about the price of eggs anymore,” she added. “Um, come on.”

“But those other areas,” Brown responded. “Other areas.”

“It’s gonna take a half second,” McClain insisted.

“Okay,” Brown said, moving on. “All right, Congressman.”

“I mean,” McClain continued, “if there was a silver bullet to get us out of this mess that was created under the Biden administration, I have the ultimate faith that President Trump could do it.”

“Unfortunately, there is a lot to unravel, and I don’t think you’re being quite as fair as he has — gas prices are down.”

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Jeffries Torches Trump’s ‘Out of Control’ Press Secretary

“I did say that,” Brown replied, “No, no, I am being fair.”

Earlier, Brown had pointed to remarks U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) had made about the high cost of living, lamenting, “inflation crushed people in the past four and a half years, and the costs have not come down.”

“I myself can tell you, my apartment here in Washington, D.C., the electricity bill is $100 more than it was last year, ’cause you can look at your own bill and look at costs,” Greene said. “Prices have not come down.”

READ MORE: Trump’s ICE Expands Spy Arsenal and Eyes ‘Antifa’: Report

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Guns and Guided Missile Warheads: Trump Admin Surged Domestic Weapons Spending Report Says

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The Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has reportedly surged spending this year on domestic weapons — including guns, chemical weapons, explosives, and guided missile warheads — by 700 percent.

“Records from the Federal Procurement Data System reveal that ICE has increased spending on ‘small arms, ordnance, and ordnance accessories manufacturing’ by 700% compared to 2024 levels,” according to a report by Popular Information. “Most of the spending was on guns and armor, but there have also been significant purchases of chemical weapons and ‘guided missile warheads and explosive components.'”

“More weapons, more violence,” wrote Popular Information founder Judd Legum, noting that the “surge in spending on ICE weaponry has coincided with a wave of violent incidents by ICE officers.”

Legum pointed to several well-publicized incidents, including one recently where a Christian pastor, David Black, reportedly was shot in the head with a pepper ball.

READ MORE: ‘Not Right in the Head’: Notorious Far Right Leader Fuentes Goes Off on ‘Weird’ Trump

“In another September incident, an ICE officer dropped his gun while violently making an arrest and then pointed it at bystanders,” Legum wrote.

“All over the country, federal agents have shot, gassed, and detained individuals engaged in cherished and protected activities,” a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Illinois reads.

“What we’re seeing is a general escalation of violence and the use of excessive force by ICE officers,” Ed Yohnka of the ACLU Illinois told NPR.

“Late last month,” NPR also reported, “a local CBS reporter said a masked ICE agent fired a pepper ball at her car … causing her to vomit for hours. The reporter, Asal Rezaei, said there was no protest happening at the time. Broadview Police are now investigating.”

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Jeffries Torches Trump’s ‘Out of Control’ Press Secretary

 

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