Marco Rubio 'humiliates' CBS host in clash over Putin
Rubio sparred with CBS host Margaret Brennan as she pushed him to divulge details about Trump's meeting with Putin, which took place in Alaska on Friday, as well as the forthcoming White House meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy.
'This is such a stupid media narrative that [European leaders] are coming here tomorrow because Trump is going to bully Zelensky into a bad deal. We've been working with these people for weeks... We invited them to come,' Rubio told Brennan.
'To have a deal ... to reach the end of this conflict, both sides are going to have to make concessions,' Rubio said of the agreement America is working to broker between Russia and Ukraine.
Brennan pushed Rubio on whether he, and by extension the rest of the Trump administration's leadership, were 'demanding withdrawal' of Russian troops from land that Putin 'has already seized land by force.'
'This is about what Ukraine can accept. And what Russia can accept. They both have to accept it, otherwise, there won't be a peace deal,' Rubio told Brennan.
'If there aren't concessions, if one side gets everything they want, that's called surrender. That's called the end of the war through surrender. And that's not what we're close to doing, because neither side here is on the verge of surrender or anything close to it,' the Secretary of State continued.
X users piled on the praise for Rubio's CBS performance, and a similar takedown he offered on ABC Sunday as well.
'Can you name any concessions that Vladimir Putin made during this meeting?' ABC host Martha Raddatz asked Rubio on Sunday.
'I wouldn't name them on your program,' Rubio fired back. 'Why would I do that?'
Conservative commentator and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk wrote 'bravo to Sec. Marco Rubio this morning for embarrassing CBS and ABC News. Impressive he didn't just walk out of those interviews.'
'Imagine hating President Trump so much that you actively root for peace talks to fail. What vile, ghoulish creatures,' Kirk added, doubling down on his disapproval of Brennan and ABC host Martha Raddatz.
'I don't care if you're Republican or Democrat—anyone should be able to see how blatantly the mainstream media twists the narrative in this interview alone,' wrote an X user posting under the handle @jaimewildshark.
Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich chimed in that the 'news media and the 'expert' analysts and commentators are making fools of themselves over the Trump-Putin meeting.'
'Secretary of State Marco Rubio had it just right when he said the press literally had no idea what was said in the meetings. President Trump is a great negotiator and Alaska was just the opening act in a multi act play. Patience and calm would be a wise approach for the time being,' Gingrich added in his analysis.
X user @VigilantFox noted that Marco Rubio absolutely 'humiliated CBS' Margaret Brennan after she melted down over Trump not achieving a ceasefire or slapping new sanctions.'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House on Monday, and leaders of other European nations, including Britain, France, and Germany are expected to be in attendance.
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