Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statement about American citizenship quickly backfired as online critics pointed out how his boss proved him wrong.
In a Wednesday post on X, Rubio slammed what he called "Birth Tourism," which is often brought up in MAGA circles, and pushed President Donald Trump's talking point about immigrants coming to the United States to have babies.
"American citizenship is not for sale," Rubio wrote. "But elaborate birth tourism rings are profiting off the exploitation of America's laws -coaching foreigners to defraud the U.S. visa system, arranging travel and housing, and even forging documents, all to enable foreign nationals to obtain citizenship for their children."
The post went on, with Rubio announcing a "Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force" set up by the State Department that has revoked "more than 600 visas from foreign nationals across the globe" in the past month.
However, critics also lined up to point out that Rubio's main thesis was disproven by Trump's own policies, namely the gold card visa program that would allow someone to come into the U.S. for $5 million, even though the program has mostly been stalled.
"Tell me more about the Trump gold card," former GOP operative Rick Wilson wrote in response to Rubio's post. "Citizenship is quite literally for sale."
"The first sentence is not true," wrote former GOP congressional staffer Sofia Kinzinger. "Donald Trump offered a pathway to U.S. citizenship to those willing to pay $5 million for his 'Trump Gold Card.'"
"It's literally for sale," agreed progressive news personality Alex Cole, adding a picture of the visa with the header "The Trump Gold Card is Here."
Similarly, the official press office account for Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom asked Rubio, "You sure about that?" while adding a picture from the State Department's website saying, "The Trump Gold Card is Here."
The first sentence is not true.
Donald Trump offered a pathway to U.S. citizenship to those willing to pay $5 million for his “Trump Gold Card.” https://t.co/90HWJ78DlS
— Sofia B. Kinzinger (@sofiakinzinger) August 12, 2026