In 2016, I supported Marco Rubio for president. In fact, Rubio won the Republican Party straw poll at our precinct caucuses that year, beating Donald Trump by 10 points.
That’s pretty remarkable if you think about it. He turned 45 that year and was in his first term as a US Senator. But even then, he was a phenom, having become the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives at 35, only 6 years after being elected at 29.
He rose so far so fast because he is brilliant, and especially so as an orator. Even my father, a lifelong Democrat, is impressed with Rubio. Of course, he was a Kennedy Democrat, so a lot of Rubio’s rhetoric is not as jarring to him as to younger Dems who don’t even remember Reagan or Clinton as presidents.
Over the years, our politics have become dominated by soundbites and slogans in a way that was less true before the 24-hour news cycle and X posts came to dominate our discourse. Of course, it’s not just that we live in a short-attention-span world these days that politics has moved in this direction—you can blame degraded education, the drive to expand voting beyond those who follow politics closely, and many other factors.
I’ve always thought that the drive to get “unlikely voters” to the polls was stupid, just as the current leftist push to reduce the voting age to 16 is. If you don’t pay attention, don’t vote. Some liberals, like Norm Ornstein, want to implement mandatory voting, which is a horrible idea. All these trends have contributed to the dumbing down of politics.
Rubio bucks that trend, and many of us love him for it because we are hungering for moral clarity and thoughtful reflection on the policies that matter.
🚨 Sec. Marco Rubio just NAILED IT:
“One of the criticisms you sometimes hear of communism is that it ‘sounds good in theory, but it never works in practice.'”
“That’s actually NOT TRUE. Communism does NOT sound good in theory. The world that envisions for all of us is small,… pic.twitter.com/iKnXenuutq
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 16, 2026
🚨 Sec. Marco Rubio just NAILED IT:
“One of the criticisms you sometimes hear of communism is that it ‘sounds good in theory, but it never works in practice.'”
“That’s actually NOT TRUE. Communism does NOT sound good in theory. The world that envisions for all of us is small, flat, gray, leveled of all exception, drained of all that is good and noble in the human soul.”
“The world that envisions is a world without courage, a world without creativity, or ambition, a world without heroes, or glory, or great causes to strive towards, without a world without miracles, without men who rise above the rest to do incredible and extraordinary things.”
“And the world communism envisions is a world without God.”
“For these architects of revolutionary violence, the towering achievement of our civilization, for them, it’s an unbearable humiliation, a reminder of what they cannot do and a reminder of what they cannot be. So they choose instead to destroy.” 💯
Music to my ears. Of course, any criticism of communism is, but what makes this special is not the sentiment, but its articulation. He’s not just calling out communism and communists, but explaining, in compelling terms, why communism SHOULD be disdained and why it must be defeated.
It’s not just “communism bad,” but explains why it is bad, without going into the details that makes one’s eyes glaze over.
SECRETARY RUBIO: This is a distinctive and unique evil. It has always been driven by a hatred, above all else, for civilization itself.
It is a revolt of the worst against the best; of the weak and the cowardly against the strong and the good. It is perpetrated by those who…
— Dylan Johnson (@ASDylanJohnson) July 16, 2026
SECRETARY RUBIO: This is a distinctive and unique evil. It has always been driven by a hatred, above all else, for civilization itself.
It is a revolt of the worst against the best; of the weak and the cowardly against the strong and the good. It is perpetrated by those who cannot build, cannot create, cannot achieve great things – and take their revenge upon the world for their own inadequacy by seeking to destroy those who can.
This is what radical leftism is. It may wear various different slogans and ideologies across place and time – anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, communist, anarchist, Marxist – but the fundamental character is always the same.
It is a poisonous resentment cloaked in the language of equality, justice, liberation; an overwhelming need to tear down what greater men have built, to wreck what is beautiful and right, on behalf of people who are only filled with ugliness, and have nothing else to offer the world.
Through violence and terror, they once again seek to impose their ugliness on all of us. The old dogma was wrong. None of this is driven by “idealism.” It is not “utopian” – quite the opposite, in fact.
One of the criticisms you sometimes hear of communism is: “It sounds good in theory, but it never works in practice.” But that’s not true. It doesn’t sound good in theory.
The world it envisions for all of us is small, flat and gray – leveled of all exception, drained of all that is good and noble in the human soul. It is a world without courage, creativity, or ambition; without heroes or glory or great causes to strive towards. Without miracles.
Without myths. Without men who rise above the rest to do incredible and extraordinary things. Without God.
For these architects of revolutionary violence, the towering achievements of our civilization are an unbearable humiliation – a reminder of what they cannot do or be.
So they choose to destroy. They attack pipelines, railroads, laboratories, power grids: the physical, embodied symbols of power, invention and achievement. https://x.com/StateDept/status/2077753532409647185/video/1
Of course, one could say “that’s Rubio reading a speech.” It’s much easier to be persuasive in a carefully crafted speech. It might be better than a Truth Social post could be, but then again, it’s not a Truth Social post that is written off the cuff.
Except Rubio can do it off the cuff. He’s not carefully crafted. He’s just that good.
Rubio is accurate, precise, and unapologetic.
“I want Israel to destroy Hamas. They’re vicious animals.”
How can you not love this guy? pic.twitter.com/E2o4G18Tfo
— Vivid.🇮🇱 (@VividProwess) July 5, 2026
Looking back, we may be able to thank the lucky stars that Rubio didn’t win in 2016. First, Trump is a once-in-a-lifetime politician who actually could have defeated Hillary Clinton (I think Rubio would have, but we will never know), and what we needed then was a wrecking ball, as we do today. Rubio has clarity, guts, and a willingness to confront evil, but he might not have been the guy we needed at the time.
And, of course, Rubio was a phenom, but he has a decade more experience now and is likely more prepared to confront the enemy at home than he was then. No doubt his views on immigration have evolved, especially after the Biden years, and he is, I hope, more cynical about the dangers we face here at home. No doubt his experience with the corruption of USAID and the perversion of its mission has made quite the impression on him, which is all to the good.
NEW: Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls for the civilized world to unite against an “encroaching darkness,” urging nations to defend what they have built and fight back against those who seek to destroy it.
“It is easy to destroy great things. It is far more difficult to make… pic.twitter.com/G14GjBSIXE
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 16, 2026
NEW: Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls for the civilized world to unite against an “encroaching darkness,” urging nations to defend what they have built and fight back against those who seek to destroy it.
“It is easy to destroy great things. It is far more difficult to make them. The enemies of civilization are only capable of the former. They are only capable of destroying great things. All they know is destruction.”
“But we have built great things together. We have done it time and again. We know what we must do, and now we must do it.”
What I can’t say, though, is whether his style of politics is well-suited to this age of ignorance, or just a welcome response to its worst consequences.
I’ve followed politics since childhood, learned a lot over the years about how it works in the real world and not just in abstract policy terms, so Rubio appeals especially to me. Does that translate to the more casually interested? I don’t know.
But I hope so.
Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.
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