After US Special Forces went into Venezuela early Saturday morning and captured Nicolas Maduro to bring him to America to stand trial, I knew what the reactions would be as soon as the news broke. I am not claiming any special insight here. We ALL knew what the reactions would be.
Democrats, of course, hypocritically denounced the raid, ignoring their own words from a few years ago when they demanded that Trump remove Maduro during his first term. Their useful idiot leftists on the streets would organize astroturf protests and demand that Maduro be freed. On the other side of the coin, it was also predictable that ACTUAL Venezuelans would be cheering the removal of the dictator who forced more than 8 million of them to flee the country.
And then there's the media. Yesterday, on all of the Sunday morning shows, the hosts did their level best (which is not saying much) to undermine the Trump administration, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was the logical choice for the administration to run the Sunday talk show gauntlet.
But the media made two fatal mistakes in their calculations to sabotage Rubio. First, he is far smarter than any of them. I know that's not saying much, and I don't mean it to be a backhanded compliment. Rubio is VERY smart.
Secondly, however, the media committed the error of believing that anyone in the Trump administration still plays by the old rules, where they will be kind and cordial to openly hostile (and stupid) questioning. I'm not sure why the media still thinks those rules are in place, but it is tremendously entertaining when they find out how wrong they are.
Rubio delivered a tour de force of embarrassing them, starting with George Stephanopoulos, who doesn't seem to have learned anything from having to pay Trump $15 million for lying about the President.
🚨 BREAKING: Sec. Marco Rubio DESTROYS Fake News George Stephanopoulos after he repeatedly questions the "legal authority" to run Venezuela
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 4, 2026
RUBIO: *Explains it*
ABC: "Let me ask again. What legal authority?!"
RUBIO: "I explained it...very simple! We have orders from courts. Is… pic.twitter.com/MhU89wBqoM
'I've explained once again, I will explain one more time.'
It's not just that Rubio has all of the right answers; it's also that he openly shows Stephanopoulos that he has no respect for him. Because Stephanopoulos does not deserve Rubio's respect. If he is going to act like a petulant child, Rubio is going to treat him exactly like one.
Speaking of petulant children, Kristen Welker of NBC News also tried to sabotage Rubio and make the raid all about the US 'stealing' Venezuelan oil.
Rubio didn't play with her either and issued what might very well become the signature message of Trump's foreign policy:
🚨 HOLY SMOKES. In an incredible moment, Sec. Marco Rubio declares the Western Hemisphere is OURS, Russia, China and Iran must GET OUT
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 4, 2026
WELKER: Why does the US need Venezuelan oil?!
RUBIO: "Why does CHINA need their oil? Russia? Iran? This is the West, THIS IS WHERE WE LIVE."🔥… pic.twitter.com/ZJU6L2BkNo
This is the Western hemisphere. OUR hemisphere.
That line caused lefties like John Harwood to throw a hissy fit -- because, of course, it did -- but people who love America heard it and shouted 'This is what I voted for!' from the rooftops.
Later in the day, Rubio also made it quite clear to another reporter who is in charge in our hemisphere. And it is NOT the United Nations.
Based Rubio: “I don’t care what the UN says.” 👏🏻 @SecRubio @marcorubio pic.twitter.com/E2JEbncld8
— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) January 5, 2026
'I don't care what the UN says.'
Seventy-eight million people didn't just vote for that philosophy; we voted for the bluntness and Rubio's confidence to say it directly with no room for nuance.
In maybe the best moment of the day, Rubio actually spanked perpetually angry CBS host Margaret Brennan on national television (figuratively, not literally -- though that would have been fun to watch, too).
Marco Rubio schools Margaret Brennan after she demands answers over why the U.S. did not arrest all of Nicolas Maduro's henchmen:
— Ryan Saavedra (@RyanSaavedra) January 4, 2026
"You're confused? I don't know why that's confusing to you. ... It is not easy to land helicopters in the middle of the largest military base in the… pic.twitter.com/56xk622Yxc
Yes, that is the US Secretary of State calling a media apparatchik stupid, right to her face.
And she deserved it.
It's not just Rubio, as we all know. Vice President JD Vance has made a habit of taking these talking heads to the woodshed over the past year. So have Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., just to name a few.
My favorite member of this administration, however, might be Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who is not only accomplishing great things to fight against voter fraud and DEI but also putting whining leftist harpies in their place in no uncertain terms.
Yesterday, she did it to Democratic strategist Leslie Marshall.
When Communist New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani tried to complain about the Venezuela raid, Dhillon laughed in his face from her personal account.
Blah blah cry harder https://t.co/AtPdPIZHt8
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) January 3, 2026
Marshall immediately clutched her fake pearls and tried to shame Dhillon for her language.
You're SUPPOSED to be the Assistant Attorney General; that line is literally something a 10 year old would say... do better
— Leslie Marshall (@LeslieMarshall) January 4, 2026
She's not 'supposed to be.' She IS the Assistant Attorney General. And she has no patience for the likes of Marshall.
Dhillon made that point very clear in her reply.
Leslie: see my official account for my official views. This account is where my zero tolerance for bulls*** resides. Thank you for your attention to this distinction.
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) January 4, 2026
Personally, I would not have minded if Dhillon had posted her dunk on Mamdani (who we all know never received any kind of 'briefing' at all) from her official government account. He deserved that, and Marshall deserved the reply she received as well.
Trump 2.0 is the 'We Do Not Suffer Fools Lightly' administration, and I love it.
If you come at any one of them with gaslighting, manufactured outrage, or any other type of weak sauce, they are going to demolish you for it.
I've spent decades watching Republicans who liked to dance around being direct, if not lie outright, and who would play pussyfoot with a media that openly hated them.
That's OVER.
President Trump has clearly given everyone in his administration a mandate that they can say whatever they want in the service of the America First agenda. And they will not be asked to apologize later.
I have not been more 'here for it' at any point in my life.
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Related:
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Scott Jennings Reminds America How Lucky We Are With a Biden Maduro Flashback
While the Left Cries, Actual Venezuelans Take to the Streets to Cheer Maduro's Capture
Kathy Hochul Disgraces Herself and the Skylines of New York For Fictional 'Muslim-American Heritage'
Need a Mirror? Larry Sabato Smears Americans as 'Village Idiots,' Showing Why Credentialism Is Dead
