'Repent, Marco!' Rubio hit with screaming protests as he walks into Senate hearing

ALSO READ: Trump vendetta has left GOP ripe for 'scary' extremist coup: expert

'Repent, Marco!' Rubio hit with screaming protests as he walks into Senate hearing
U.S. Capitol Police officers detain a protester on the day U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is to testify before a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on President Donald Trump's FY2027 budget request for the Department of State, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper

Secretary of State Marco Rubio walked into the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday morning to a chorus of protests — his first congressional testimony since the Trump administration launched the war in Iran three months ago.

As Rubio entered the hearing room, protesters erupted from their seats and screamed directly at him.

"Marco Rubio, stop killing Cubans!" one shouted. "Repent, repent Marco Rubio!" another cried, as Capitol Police moved in to drag them out.

Before the hearing even began, a separate group was arrested outside the briefing room. NewsNation's Joe Khalil reported the group was "very vocal," chanting "Rubio lies, people with AIDS die." The Associated Press also reported protesters chanting, "One child dies every 30 mins."

The disruptions set a combative tone for a hearing centered on the State Department's $36 billion budget request but expected to pivot quickly to the faltering ceasefire with Tehran. Tehran suspended talks Monday after Israel continued strikes on Lebanon.

Rubio's prepared remarks offered little conciliation. "The U.S. government is not a charity," he wrote. "We are not here to play social worker."

The committee's ranking Democrat, New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, was withering in her opening remarks — accusing Rubio of refusing to provide information on U.S. operations in Iran, the American troop posture in Europe, and support for Ukraine.

"When you do notify Congress, it's to inform us of decisions you have already made," Shaheen said.

It is Rubio's first public appearance before Congress since the war began in February — with a ceasefire under strain and midterms on the horizon.

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White House baffles with 'insane' cryptic post said to 'signal' weakness

The White House posted a cryptic six-second video on Monday night telling critics to be quiet, and the response was immediate — with Never Trump conservatives, progressive media organizations and QAnon followers all reacting in ways that suggested the message landed nowhere near its intended target.

The post featured what viewers described as Donald Trump making a "shh" finger gesture before the screen goes dark, accompanied by text reading: "To those negatively chirping: quiet. It will all work out well in the end - it always does."

Tom Nichols, the Atlantic staff writer and former Naval War College professor who has become one of the most prominent conservative critics of Trump, offered a two-word translation: "Silence, peasants."

MeidasTouch, the progressive media organization, was equally direct: "This message does not signal strength."

Christian Nightmares, a widely followed social media account that documents extreme religious and political content, summed it up differently: "This is f------ insane."

Fred Wellman, a U.S. Army veteran and Lincoln Project communications strategist, argued the post was never meant for the general public. "This message isn't for working Americans," Wellman wrote. "It's for his party members on the Hill. He's losing his grip on them and is getting more desperate by the day to keep control. Working Americans just don't matter. His rich friends will be fine."

The post also sent QAnon followers into a spiral. Santa Surfing, a prominent QAnon content creator, immediately connected it to the movement's longstanding question about informants. "Trump's chirping post… White House hints birds chirping! WHO SANG???!!!!!" they wrote. Another account noted that "When does a bird sing?" is one of the most well-known Q drops, suggesting the post was a deliberate coded message to the movement's followers.

The White House did not clarify the post's intent.

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Expert makes the case for Trump's biggest self-inflicted wound

The Trump administration abandoned a $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund created through a Department of Justice, or DOJ, settlement with the Internal Revenue Services, or IRS, over the President's leaked tax returns.

The fund was designed to compensate individuals who claimed improper prosecution, with multiple of President Donald Trump's allies indicating they would seek payments.

In his latest Substack essay, former federal prosecutor Harry Litman characterized the retreat as Trump's "biggest self-inflicted wound of Trump 2.0," noting the President was "pinned between a rock and a hard place."

The fund became "politically radioactive" after reporters questioned Republicans about potentially paying individuals convicted of assaulting police officers during the January 6 insurrection.

Litman warned Trump could face "serious lumps" from the MAGA base approaching the midterms. He added, the retreat represents a public defeat for a president whose political brand centers on bravado and winning, though the full parameters of the reversal remain unclear as of the report.

"All of that amounts to a richly deserved comeuppance for Trump’s staggering audacity in trying to make the American people not just pardon but financially reward the most serious assault on American democracy since the Civil War," Litman wrote.

Watch the video below.

Rubio roasted in hearing over Trump's high gas prices and war: 'Dumpster fire'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced a blistering broadside Tuesday from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the FY27 State Department budget — a session that quickly turned into a referendum on the Trump administration's foreign policy record.

"The Trump foreign policy has become a dumpster fire," Van Hollen said at the hearing, ticking through a lengthy charge sheet: a war in Iran that has killed at least 15 U.S. service members and sent gas prices up 28% year-over-year; a UAE crypto deal that enriched the Trump family; and USAID cuts he argued enabled the current Ebola outbreak in the DRC.

Van Hollen also criticized Trump's China trip, saying the president returned with nothing but "ballroom envy" — a reference to Trump's Truth Social post marveling at Chinese ballroom architecture after a summit that produced no comprehensive trade deal — while having loosened chip export restrictions to Beijing beforehand.

He also zeroed in on Trump's comments about gas prices.

"He called high gas prices 'peanuts' and said, 'I don't think about Americans' financial situation,'" Van Hollen said at the hearing. Trump made those remarks on May 19, as national inflation hit 3.8% — a three-year high.

Rubio pushed back but conceded little. When Van Hollen pressed him on whether the administration had found new evidence to justify reinstating Cuba's state sponsor of terrorism designation, Rubio replied: "Why would I need new evidence?"

"Because you're claiming they're a state sponsor of terrorism, suggesting they're ongoingly involved in that," Van Hollen fired back.

The two also sparred over media reports that the U.S. is working with Israel to strip Jordan of its custodianship over the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex. Rubio said he'd never heard the claim discussed. "Is it a credible website?" he asked. Van Hollen said he was glad to provide it.

It was not the first time the two had clashed. Last year, Van Hollen told Rubio to his face that he regretted voting to confirm him. Rubio's response: "Your regret for voting for me confirms I'm doing a good job."

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