Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the rounds on the Sunday shows this morning to talk about the recent developments in Venezuela, including the capture and arrest of Nicolás Maduro and what's next for Venezuela and for our involvement in this situation.
I'll be the first to admit that even I, who has never seen a Marco Rubio interview I didn't like, was a little frustrated with some of his answers, but I also recognize that this is kind of a sensitive situation, especially in the moment, and the secretary probably can't share too much just yet. I'm not usually a "trust your government kind of girl," but in this situation, and given who's in charge of it, I'm willing to wait and see.
Kristen Welker, George Stephanopoulos, and Margaret Brennan obviously are not. They all gave off the impression that now that Maduro is gone, Venezuela should become a thriving sunshine and roses democracy overnight, and if it doesn't, this is Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan all over again. There is no gray area with these people, buy I'm fairly certain that up until yesterday, they thought Venezuela was a fruity drink you order in a Mexican restaurant.
Welker started in on the tired "regime change" talking points, and Rubio could barely contain his laughter as she was asking the question. "U.S. regime change historically speaking has not gone very well for the United States.... Can you assure Americans that this time will be different?" she asked.
Rubio started by saying something I've been writing for months: These so-called experts on Venezuela that we see on the media are not experts at all.
"We've got this phobia built up — and you know what, most of the 'experts' people have on television, I watch these experts and it's clown hour. These are people that have focused their entire career on the Middle East or some other part of the world because that's where all the action was. Very few of them know anything about Venezuela or the Western Hemisphere," he said. "Venezuela looks nothing like Libya, it looks nothing like Iraq, it looks nothing like Afghanistan, it looks nothing the Middle East, other than the Iranian agents that are running through there plotting against America."
He continued: "These are Western countries with long traditions... at a cultural level and ties to the United States. So, it's nothing like that. So, I think people need to stop ascribing apples and oranges — they're the apples of the Middle East to the oranges of the Western Hemisphere."
Rubio also pointed out that being tough on Maduro is about the national interest of the United States and how we're in a "safer and better place" than we were in the past when we were a bit softer on the former dictator. This is when he got angry and rightfully so.
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"The alternative would have been to leave Maduro there as an indicted, drug trafficker, illegitimate president, running the country, open invitation for all of our adversaries to do whatever they want against the United States from Venezuela. That was not gonna continue," he said. "The alternative would have been to allow a drug trafficker to continue to use national territory and elements of nation-state power to further power drug trafficking organizations."
You can watch the exchange for yourself here:
Welker: Regime change historically speaking has not gone very well for the United States. Can you assure Americans that this time will be different?
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 4, 2026
Rubio: We've got this phobia built up… I watched these experts and it's clown hour. Venezuela looks nothing like Libya. It looks… pic.twitter.com/JEgoOkiyTP
Side note: I just want to thank Rubio for saying this. Since I've taken on writing about the Western Hemisphere over the last six months or so, I have had so many people say, "Why aren't you writing about this — it's all over the news? Why did you mention this but the MSM isn't talking about it?" What he said is exactly why I am very careful about what I report, especially on foreign policy. There are many people who claim they are experts on, say, Venezuela, and they go on TV or speak to these media outlets and open their mouths and prove that they don't actually know much at all. They repeat partisan talking points, quote anonymous sources that turn out to be false, and say things that might sound authoritative but really aren't at all. And they're not just on the left. But I digress
Over on ABC, Stephanopoulos was obsessed with, well, semantics instead of the actual substance involved in the situation, but that's kind of what he does these days isn't it?
"President Trump was pretty clear yesterday. He said the United States is going to run Venezuela. Under what legal authority?" the host asked.
Rubio ran down exactly what that means — first we're quarantining their oil. "That means their economy will not be able to move forward until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and the interests of the Venezuelan people are met," he said.
He added that we'll use this quarantine as leverage, set conditions for Venezuela that prevent it from being a "crossroads for many of our adversaries around the world, including Iran and Hizballah," and make sure that it is "no longer sending us drug gangs, is no longer sending us drug boats, is no longer a narcotrafficking paradise for all those drugs coming out of Colombia to go in through the Caribbean and towards the United States." He didn't got into the specifics, and I suspect he can't and won't right now.
But Stephanopoulos didn't like this answer and went on to ask the same question at least three more times. Good journalism at work, my friends. Instead of recapping the entire thing, I'll let you watch for yourselves. I love it when Marco gets the best of George, which is every time he goes on his show:
.@SecRubio methodically schools Fake News George Slopadopoulos (who is either stupid, ignorant, or most likely, both): "Well, I've explained it... I'll do it one more time." 🤣 pic.twitter.com/fs07iq5X9F
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 4, 2026
Last but not least, over on CBS, Brennan wanted to know why we only arrested Maduro and not the other wanted members of his regime, like Diosdado Cabello, all in one swoop. I'm going to say something I never thought I'd say, but Brennan's interview was, in my opinion, the fairest of the three — she asked some legitimate questions instead of just trying to stick it to Donald Trump — but she also showed off her ignorance. She can't help it, I suppose.
"I'm confused. Are they still wanted by the United States?"
"You're confused — I don't know why that's confusing to you," Rubio said incredulously. He continued:
It is not easy to land helicopters in the middle of the largest military base in the country, the guy lived on a military base, land within three minutes, kick down his door, grab him, put him in handcuffs, read him his rights, put him in a helicopter and leave the country without losing any American or any American assets. That's not an easy mission. And you're asking me, why didn't we do that in five other places at the same time?
He went on to assure Brennan that Maduro was the top target and that the work in Venezuela is not quite done.
When asked why the Trump administration decided to leave Nicolás Maduro’s regime intact and only arrest Maduro and his wife, Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells @margbrennan “you're not going to go in and —you’re going to go in and suck up five people?”
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 4, 2026
“We got the top… pic.twitter.com/iZBYflclpo
What really burns me up about these interviews is that you can tell these three people really don't know much about Venezuela, and they have Rubio right there in front of them with the chance to ask real questions to get real information about the situation...but they just let it go to waste. I know that's always the case on these shows, but the Western Hemisphere is not reported on as much as it should be, and here it is in the spotlight with the perfect opportunity for that to change, and these MSM losers waste it.
They left so many good questions on the table.
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