A very sober sounding Senator Sen. Marco Rubio faces the camera and gives his assessment of presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016. In an interview with another media outlet just before recording the now viral CNN clip, Rubio had likened Trump to a third-world “strongman.”
That is not to say that Rubio thought then of Trump as strong. He emphatically believed otherwise, as numerous statements during the GOP primaries then demonstrated.
“A tough guy?” Rubio asked, considering Trump at the time. “This guy inherited $200 million. He’s never faced any struggle.”
[Rubio summed up Trump in February of 2016 like this: “He is a con artist. He runs on this idea he is fighting for the little guy, but he has spent his entire career sticking it to the little guy — his entire career.”]
Another Rubio slam from the time, as reported by The Texas Tribune, had the Florida Senator saying: “The other day, [Trump] told a protester, ‘I’m going to punch you in the face.’ Donald Trump has never punched anyone in the face. Donald Trump was the first guy that begged for Secret Service protection.”
Asked about his designation of Trump as strongman, Rubio, now Secretary of State in the second Trump administration, explained it. Rubio told the story of how strongmen emerge around the world: “You have a leader that emerges who basically says don’t put your faith in yourselves, don’t put your faith in society, put your faith in me. I’m a strong leader and I’m going to make things better all by myself.”
Marco Rubio: “For years to come, there are many people on the right, in the media and voters at large, that are going to be having to explain and justify how they fell into this trap of supporting Donald Trump.”
(March 2016) pic.twitter.com/4jjOMzJi37— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 16, 2025
It is this frank reply that is causing the video to be widely circulated now, because Rubio’s reply doesn’t just condemn Trump for “strongman” tactics that have become more than familiar.
Instead, Rubio’s condemnation stretches out to include “people on the right, in the media and voters at large” who “for years to come,” he says “are going to be having to explain and justify how they fell into this trap of supporting Donald Trump. Because this is not going to end well, one way or the other.”
Rubio also said that Trump was running for President, “so no matter what, he won’t be a dictator unless our Republic completely crumbles.” Rubio predicted: “I don’t anticipate it will.”
Times change and, more recently, Rubio offered high praise for Trump (below) during a cabinet meeting. He has not explained or justified, as he said people would be forced to, how he “fell into this trap of supporting Donald Trump.”
This is just plain nauseating. Marco Rubio heaps praise on Dear Leader for over two solid minutes. pic.twitter.com/rYT6PGNvQ4
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 10, 2025