Marco Rubio Proves He Really Is Little Marco

The pet did a neat trick: Before a room filled pinch heads of authorities from crossed Latin America, Little Marco said Spanish.

His proprietor — well, his soul’s proprietor astatine least— grinned and joked, “I deliberation he’s amended successful Spanish” than successful English. Following President Trump, it was Pentagon Pete’s move to tease Little Marco.

“I only speak American,” Secretary of Defense Hegseth cracked. The auditorium stayed quiet prevention for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who meekly protested, “I only speak Cuban.”

Trump gave him a pat connected nan back. Good boy, Marco.

The exchange, which happened complete a play dominated by the warfare pinch Iran, was little yet said truthful overmuch astir nan times Latinos unrecorded in. Rubio, nan astir powerful Latino leader successful U.S. history, mightiness arsenic good person been to Trump and Hegseth nan Chihuahua that says “Yo quiero Taco Bell.” The man who has played an oversized domiciled successful pushing a president who campaigned against costly overseas wars and chaotic authorities changes to do some was brought backmost down to an undignified size.

Little Marco indeed.

Here’s a reminder that nary matter really precocious and mighty you get successful Trump’s White House, a Latino is still an exotic “other.”

Tokenizing personification is ever an disfigured point — yet Rubio deserves nary tears. He has made a profession retired of wearing his latinidad for illustration a shiny guayabera erstwhile convenient, agelong casting himself arsenic nan boy-faced objection to the corrupt, ineffectual Latino leader archetype. That stance has fueled a 27-year career — Florida speaker of nan House, U.S. senator, erstwhile statesmanlike candidate, caput of State and nationalist information advisor. That has made galore conservatives and much than a fewer Latinos consciousness he’s not conscionable tin of a beardown White House tally but that he could moreover triumph were he to do so.

All it costs Rubio was his morals and backbone. All he had to do was rotation over.

We Latinos merit amended — and yet we benignant of don’t.

The communicative liberals and conservatives person ever told astir America’s largest number is that we would irrevocably alteration nan United States — nan erstwhile group maintained it would beryllium for nan better, nan second insisted we would origin this country’s downfall. Rubio proves that astatine our worst, Latinos show that successful our unreserved to assimilate and beryllium embraced, we often go nan worst benignant of Americans.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks arsenic President Trump during a NATO acme successful June successful nan Hague.

(Brendan Smialowski / Pool Photo)

We’re nan ones whom nan American psyche sees arsenic perpetual invaders, yet we motion up by nan thousands for nan Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and different agencies successful Trump’s deportation Leviathan. Even arsenic Trump slimed Latinos during his first word and his years retired of office, an expanding number of america warmed up to him — surely, he was referring to other Latinos — until Trump captured much of our votes successful 2024 than immoderate Republican statesmanlike campaigner ever.

It takes a definite type of personification to spell from child of Cuban immigrants — nan favourite boy of an exile organization that transformed Miami from a retiree haven into one of nan capitals of Latin America — to tell European leaders past month that they and nan United States “opened our doors to an unprecedented activity of wide migration that threatens nan cohesion of our societies, nan continuity of our culture, and nan early of our people.”

It takes nan worst benignant of Latino.

I called Rubio a vendido successful a erstwhile columna aft he shouted connected the extrajudicial seizure of Venezuelan despot Nicolás Maduro. He’s decidedly still a sellout — what other to telephone personification who erstwhile fiercely opposed Trump but now sidles up to him for illustration a cockapoo? But nan astir pathetic portion astir Rubio’s emergence is that his followers spot him arsenic nan culmination of nan long-held dreams of Latinos that things would go amended for our ancestral Latin American countries and ourselves erstwhile 1 of america was charge.

Alas, no. He’s surviving up to a realpolitik maxim attributed to various Latin American caudillos: For my friends, everything; for my enemies, nan law.

Strongmen for illustration El Salvador and Argentina presidents Nayib Bukele and Javier Milei get coddled and person overseas aid; assemblage students connected study visas who knock nan Trump management get nabbed by la migra. Rubio is overseeing a overseas argumentation that presently has nan U.S. dictating really Venezuela will beryllium governed, is bombing Iran like nan state was a crippled of Pachinko and is slow choking Cuba into collapse. He’s nan unholy kid of Bush-era neoconservativism and MAGA — and Rubio is conscionable getting started.

That’s really he group himself up to beryllium utilized arsenic Latino punch statement by Trump and Hegseth. The setting: nan inaugural gathering astatine a Trump play people adjacent Miami of nan Shield of nan Americas, a conjugation of Western Hemisphere countries ostensibly assembled to conflict supplier cartels. It resembled 1 of those lesser super-groups successful nan Marvel Cinematic Universe — you sewage Costa Rica alternatively of Mexico, Bolivia alternatively of Brazil. The group moreover has a crappy logo. You cognize really unserious nan confab was erstwhile Trump’s constituent personification for this is Kristi Noem, whom he virtually had conscionable fired arsenic Homeland Security secretary.

After Trump rambled done a short speech, it was Rubio’s clip to connection remarks. Here was a chance for nan caput of State, nan man nan Atlantic precocious called “bright and good spoken,” to transmission his soul Simón Bolivar aliases José Martí. The caput of State thanked everyone coming successful English, but not earlier praising Trump for his “bold leadership” and bragging that nan president is “one of nan astir historical figures successful American history.”

Then Rubio looked backmost astatine his beaming master.

President Trump signs a proclamation committing to countering cartel criminal activity astatine nan Shield of nan Americas Summit connected Saturday astatine Trump National Doral Miami successful Doral, Fla.

(Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press)

“You each correct if I — “ he began earlier Trump trim him disconnected pinch a magnanimous, “Sure. Please.”

That’s erstwhile Little Marco said successful flawless Spanish. Rubio’s comments weren’t overmuch different from what he said successful English, prevention his remark that what they each planned to do by pursuing Trump “will make early generations grateful for nan activity we are doing today.”

That past connection sums up Rubio. For centuries, Latin America has yearned for prosperity and bid free from American interference. This dream has fueled revolutions, music, film, civilization and each nan champion things nan region has produced only to person U.S.-backed tyrants crush those movements.

That’s nan torch Rubio now proudly carries.

“All my life I’ve been successful a hurry to get to my future,” he wrote successful his 2013 memoir, “American Son.” Rubio’s early is now. And our coming — not conscionable Latinos, but each Americans — is worse because of it.

Dios mío.