Marco Rubio

04/15/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/15/2021 11:26

ICYMI: Rubio Joins Fox & Friends

Washington, D.C. -U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Fox & Friendsto discuss the Democrats' plan to pack the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden's classification of Russia as a national security threat, and the President's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan. See below for highlights and watch the full interview here.

On court packing:
'Look, they've been wanting to do this for a long time. It's interesting though, there was no problem with the courts up until a Republican president was elected and started appointing people to vacancies. Now there's a problem with the courts.'The courts have been where they [Democrats] have done things for 25 years that they couldn't get done to the legislative branch. They couldn't get a bill passed in Congress, or they couldn't get a bill passed by a state legislature, so they went to a court and they got it done.'Well, now that there are conservative judges and judges that'll interpret the Constitution the way it was written on the bench, suddenly we got a crisis in the courts and that needs to be now looked at.'So look, this is a pure political ploy. That's all it is -- it's hardball politics. It's sad that it isn't being covered that way by most outlets but that's what it is. ...'I think privately most Democrats, or many Democrats here in the Senate, will probably tell you they wish we wouldn't do it because once you do that -if you add two more justices to the Supreme Court so you can get the majority of what you think are your appointees on there - then when the other side takes over, they're going to add two more. We'll have like 30 people, 40 people on the Supreme Court one day if we continue that trend line.'But that doesn't mean it won't or couldn't happen. Here's why. The pressure that comes on these guys is extraordinary. I mean, the beating that they take from the far left, the threats to primary them, and we've already seen far-left candidates primarying and taking out long-time Democrat incumbents. You know, the Majority Leader here in the Senate, I believe, is scared of being primaried. So, they'll come after these guys, and, so ultimately, you've seen people cave and do what they know is wrong because of that fear.'
On President Joe Biden's Executive Order declaring Russia a national security threat:'It now opens up extraordinary powers from the Executive Branch to take certain specified actions that might not otherwise be there. We've seen these things invoked in the past in order to allow the imposition of sanctions, for example, that may not be statutorily authorized.... 'And it's not just the Russians. The Chinese are very much involved in doing these sorts of these things. The Iranians want to do these sorts of things. This is going to be an ongoing threat that's going to impact every part of our economy and leave vulnerabilities in our country - not just in elections, but water systems, critical infrastructure, all the sorts of utilities, power plants, things of this nature. It's a very serious situation.'
On President Biden's decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 11th: 'I wish that the situation in Afghanistan were different. I wish that there was an Afghan government that was strong and a Taliban that was headed towards defeat. That said, that's not the trends this has taken. The Trump Administration declared that on May 1st we were leaving and once that was put in place, I think it was a fait accompli.'My concern at this point now is the following, and that is, it's tragic what's going to happen in Afghanistan. I believe, unfortunately, the Taliban's going to take over that country, or large portions of it. And it's going to be terrible for - I mean, just imagine if you're an Afghan woman or girl who has been going to school. Just imagine if, you know, one of these people that's been out there working with us to go after the Taliban, what's going to happen to you and your family. And that's terrible. 'But on top of that, what I'm really concerned about for America, is Al-Qaeda is now going to reconstitute in Afghanistan. They're going to find a safe haven. And only sustained pressure is what's kept those groups from being able to attack us in the homeland again. If we're not going to be in Afghanistan, we have to have a plan to sustain pressure on Al-Qaeda, wherever they pop up - including Afghanistan - or we're going to face the same threat we faced on September 11, 2001 at some point in the future, and that's unacceptable.'...And I would say about Afghanistan, it's unfortunate with the way it's taken its turn. I mean, there has to come a point in which U.S. engagement ends. We can't be there forever. There was a drawdown by the Trump Administration and unfortunately the Afghan government's never built the sort of situation where they have real stability. And that doesn't mean we walk away from them, but I'm very concerned about what that's going to mean if Al-Qaeda comes back in.'