Secretary of State Marco Rubio grew visibly annoyed with the Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee during his Wednesday testimony, openly voicing his exasperation in several exchanges.
Rubio appeared before the committee to provide updates on the war with Iran and other foreign policy developments. Nearly every exchange with Democrats was hostile, but one area of contention was how Democrats monopolized their allotted time without giving him a chance to respond.
In an exchange over Israel with Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Rubio complained about the rules of the hearing after being prevented from answering, saying, “You guys have to fix the rules here, you can’t even answer a question.”
“This is a weird rule, where you ask a question and I can’t answer,” he said.
Rubio scolded Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) after she asked him who won the 2020 presidential election, saying it was inappropriate for a committee dedicated to foreign affairs.
“I’m not here to answer about 2020, this is a foreign affairs committee. … I don’t do campaign,” he said. “That’s been the long tradition of the department, and you should know that if you’ve been on this committee for any period of time.”
Jacobs responded with a prewritten closing remark, saying Rubio couldn’t tell the truth, as he couldn’t tell President Donald Trump that the shoes he gifted the secretary of state were too big — apparently referring to a report claiming as much.
“I don’t know what shoe she’s talking to,” Rubio responded, confused. “What is she talking about?”
“We’re talking about shoes,” he said. “Are you guys kidding me? I mean, is this the Foreign Affairs Committee, or is this like a circus? What is this thing?”
His exchange with Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) was equally testy, filled with bickering over time and the ability to respond. When her time ended with her yelling over Rubio for a final point, the secretary of state quipped, “Oh, she gets to scream now, too?”
“What kind of thing is this? What is this?” he said. “You get asked questions for five minutes, and you don’t get time to answer? That’s not a hearing, that’s a dunk tank.”