Marco Rubio Leaves Jonathan Karl Spluttering As He Lays Out Successes of Trump Versus Failures of Biden

With all the chaos in the world at present, it makes sense for the Sunday news shows to feature congressional leaders as guests. As reported earlier, ABC News' "This Week" aired a segment on Sunday morning with Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) discussing the horrific attack by ISIS-K in Moscow. Rubio serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as well as Vice Chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence.

That exchange was fairly cordial and even-keeled. The two also discussed the potential for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, which, Rubio noted, could happen tomorrow if Hamas would simply surrender.

Then their discussion turned to the recent rumors that former President Donald Trump may be eyeing Rubio as a potential running mate.

That's when things took a somewhat humorous (albeit darkly humorous) turn, with Karl expressing utter disbelief that Rubio would want to associate himself in any way with the Bad Orange Man or could possibly lay blame at the feet of President Joe Biden for much of the chaos we're seeing at present.

Watch as Karl splutters in the face of Rubio's deft portrayal of the stunning contrast between the two administrations:

Sen. Marco Rubio says anyone would be “honored” to serve as VP, but tells @JonKarl that he has not spoken with former Pres. Trump about being his running mate.

“That's the decision he's going to make. He has plenty of really good people to pick from.” https://t.co/MFPmHskhoN pic.twitter.com/B2BVL9W4S6
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 24, 2024

From their exchange:

KARL: I want to turn to politics — there was some reporting this week that you are possibly under consideration to be Donald Trump's running mate. I don't put a lot of stock in this reporting right now — we're early. But you said it would be an honor to be offered a spot on this ticket — really?!
RUBIO: Yeah. I think anyone who's offered the opportunity to serve this country as vice president should be honored by the opportunity to do it — if you're in public service. I'm in the Senate because I want to serve the country. Being vice president is an important way to serve the country. But I've also been clear: I've never talked to Donald Trump — I've never talked to anybody on his team or family or inner circle — about vice president. That's a decision he's going to make. He has plenty of really good people to pick from.

Karl couldn't contain his horror:

KARL: But, I mean, the reason why I ask is because...I mean, look what happened to the last guy. I mean, a mob stormed the Capitol, literally calling to hang Mike Pence, and Trump defended those chants of 'Hang Mike Pence.'
RUBIO: I will tell you this — that, when Donald Trump was president of the United States, this country was safer; it was more prosperous; we had relations, for example, in a part of the world that I care about called the Western Hemisphere that were very strong — we got a lot of good things done there. I think the country — and the world — was a better place when he was president. And I would love to see him return to the White House in comparison to the guy who's there now, Joe Biden, who's been a disaster...economically. Look at the world. Every single day, we wake to a new crisis, to a new conflict, everything has gone on fire. Since the time Joe Biden took over, Afghanistan's gone down, Ukraine has been invaded. Now, the Philippines and the Chinese are on the verge of something bad happening every single day, not to mention the threats to Taiwan. We have this blow-up in Haiti going on in our very own hemisphere. We wake up every single day — terrorist attacks and nine million people across the border. That's what matters to me.

Nor could Karl contain his wonderment at the idea that Joe Biden owns any of the current disarray.

KARL: But, I mean, you're not suggesting that's all happening because of Biden? I mean, look —
RUBIO: Absolutely I am — absolutely I'm suggesting it's happening because of Biden. He's president, and his weakness and his —
KARL: It's because of Biden that Russia invaded Ukraine?
RUBIO: Absolutely.
KARL: It's because of Biden that, that Haiti. Okay, let's —
RUBIO: Absolutely. I mean, Putin is sitting there saying, 'These guys can't even stand up to the Taliban, and they have to fly people hanging off the wings of these airplanes — now's the time to go.' And —
KARL: I mean, Trump's the one saying, suggesting that there should be a deal that effectively gives Putin what he wants in Ukraine. But look...can we take a quick —
RUBIO: Well, that's not true. He's said he wants the conflict to end — which, it's striking to me that people...why wouldn't people want peace? What I've said is there is going to be a negotiated — Russia's not going to take all of Ukraine. And Ukraine's not going to push Russia back to where it was in 2014. I want Ukraine to have the upper hand in any negotiation.

None of this is funny. But I couldn't help but chuckle at Karl's utter incredulity that the narratives he apparently hews to with such fervor could be challenged in such fashion.