I don’t know what plans Marco Rubio had after he’s no longer Trump’s Secretary of State. My guess is either another Presidential run, or perhaps becoming Governor of Florida. For the former that’s a big electoral vote gorilla he might once have had a lock on, and the latter? Being Miami’s ‘favorite son’ would be a huge leg up in a run for Gov. Well, he can kiss that goodbye with his latest debasement/capitulation to Trump. Both Venezuelans and CUBANS are furious with him now. All that support they would have mobilized throughout the state has gone away faster than a fart in a hurricane.
An awful lot of people including Republicans were worried about who’d wind up in Trump’s new cabinet. Especially the top jobs. Attorney General and Secretary of Defense, as well as Homeland Security nominees were every bit as bad as we feared. However Elise Stefanik for U.N. Ambassador was a semi-reassuringly sane pic. So was then Florida Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. If not highly qualified they were at least qualified, and though they’d drunk enough nasty orange Trump Kool Aid to stay in Trumpt’s favor they seemed to have some fealty to old positions they had long held. Crudely put, if not the ‘adults in the room’ at the beginning of the first Trump administration they were clueless, completely unqualified idiots either.
Well, Stefanik got tossed under the bus of Moses Mikey Johnson needing her for his razor thin GOP House majority. Rubio? He said the right things during confirmation and assured colleagues both Republican and Democrat he still held the same beliefs on various issues. Including I should add immigration ones where his differences with what Trump seemed to be planning didn’t mesh. Still, he was easily confirmed. THEN he started getting the ‘Little Marco’ type treatment Trump humiliated him with during the 2016 primaries. With only a few months on the job Rubio seems to feel he can’t quit. Or at least do so and have a future.
I’m not so sure. A strong “I have my principles” statement of resignation might have even overcome the embarrassment of his deer in the spotlight moment during his official GOP rebuttal to a State of the Union address. Well, that’s a whole subject of its own. The point is that Rubio rode being the son of Cuban exiles who fled Castor’s Cuba to the Senate. He had JUICE in Miami and beyond due to that Cuban diasporia in Florida. Not only that his strong advocacy for TPP status for those who’d fled Venezuela got him the support of some 600k of that group.
As this article from El Pais US tells us Rubio’s hometown and base of support Miami has ‘turned its back on him.’ With good reason. As I noted both in his short Presidential campaign Rubio was among the strongest supporters for Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans in the U.S, and of sanctions against the regime there and also in Cuba. Now? Not so much:
As Secretary of State, however, Rubio now supports ending TPS for Venezuelans and cutting international aid to Latin American countries under dictatorial regimes. Neither his political colleagues — many local Republican politicians have voiced opposition — nor his own community seem to recognize him anymore.
The linked article details some of the blowback. Blowback which I suspect is just getting started. One of my favorites is a post on CBS’ Instagram account that says Rubio should sent his parents to Cuba since he’s sold his soul to Trump! Then there are billboards that are popping up. They are pointedly critical and as I said I think there will be many more of them and not just in Rubio’s hometown of Miami. Trying to deflect criticism on the Venezuelan matter by saying the asylum process is still open to them won’t fly. These folks can see right through THAT bullshiite. Worse for Rubio, news outlets are starting to pile on:
Both the Miami Herald and South Florida public radio WLRN dedicated editorials on Thursday to the country’s first Latino Secretary of State. “Rubio used Venezuelans in his hometown for political gain. Now, he’s betrayed them,” read the article in the Herald headline, which called on Rubio to use his high-ranking position in the Trump administration to help the thousands of Venezuelans with TPS now facing deportation. “Venezuelans and other migrant groups see leaders like Marco Rubio no longer have their backs — because today, boosting deportations matters more than bolstering democracy,” wrote WLRN Americas editor Tim Padgett.
So it looks like even in Miami Rubio is truly the “Little Marco” Trump branded him as back in 2016. Maybe taking a principled stand and resigning might have saved his career and maybe not. We’ll never know. What I think IS certain is that he’ll never get elected to anything of significance ever again. I also don’t see him raking in millions in book sales or speaking fees. Nope, he’ll be quickly forgotten except for the periodic ‘What happened to Marco Rubio after Trump threw him under the bus?’ stories. Well, it’s his own damned fault that he pissed away any future he might have had in GOP politics.
***Zoomers, we are always in need of donations. It’s been an especially rough month and my own health has not been great these past few weeks, which just adds to the frustration. Anything you can spare will be immensely appreciated. And thank you to all who have donated generously already. Ursula***
🤔 Remember, in ancient history, that there was a little maxim “ETTD?” (“Everything Trump Touches Dies”)
What should we even call this now? Trump didn’t cause the death of Rubio or Stefanik. He didn’t destroy Nikki Haley’s political career or that of all the other sycophants who tied themselves to the sickness they ignored for some perceived benefit. They made choices based on their own lack of principles; their own lack of strength.
Suicide doesn’t seem to fully cover it…they could still recover. I imagine though, that if someone like Rubio tried to leave Trump, he would choose the lame old “spend more time with my family” rather than making his departure from a position of strength.
Maybe it is just hollowness and there was nothing there to begin with. 🫥
[🤔 Hey, Denis, on a “housekeeping” note: does anybody monitor the “contact us” portion of your site? In the past month or so, I’ve gone there with a couple of suggestions on getting through the PZ/all blogs rough times together. I never got a response. Is it so rarely used that no one looks anymore? Just wondering.]