As part of a deep dive into former Sen. Marco Rubio's immersion into Donald Trump's administration, one of the Florida Republican's aides admitted his boss was not hired for his foreign affairs experience.
Since stepping away from his secure seat as a Republican Senator representing Florida, where he rose to senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Rubio has been saddled with additional duties besides being secretary of state including, now, acting national security advisor.
Asked by the Washington Post about the job he is doing and whether he would give the normally incurious Trump the benefit of his experience when it comes to foreign affairs, a close aide to Rubio suggested the question was "absurd" and that his boss is expected to follow Trump's direction without question.
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“Some of his former colleagues were hoping he would be the ‘adult in the room.’ That is a very warped view of our constitutional system,” the aide stated on the condition of anonymity before adding, "The president of the United States is the one who’s elected. He’s the one who sets our foreign policy, and it’s the job of the secretary of state and others to implement that vision.”
As the report notes, that may be the safest path for Rubio to traverse given Trump's revolving door of advisers who have been ousted for not wholeheartedly backing the president's decisions.
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"Rubio is proceeding with caution, remaining mum on how he’ll run the National Security Council, the White House body that presents the president with policy options on emerging crises by synthesizing input from the nation’s top intelligence, military, cyber and diplomatic officials," the Post's John Hudson, Natalie Allison, Adam Taylor and Liz Goodwin wrote.
One Democratic senator who supported his secretary of state nomination expected more out of Rubio and expressed dismay with what his former colleague has become.
“Rubio’s MAGA brain transplant is complete,” lamented Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). “The Marco Rubio that used to talk about the importance of democracy and human rights, freedom of speech as part of American foreign policy has disappeared.”
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