A secretary of state in name only

I said from the start that Marco Rubio’s nomination as Secretary of State was about tokenism, not diplomacy. Trump proved me right by stacking his administration with White, DEI (“didn’t earn it”) special envoys, making Rubio irrelevant.

Case in point: Richard Grenell, Trump’s envoy of special envoys, was in Venezuela proudly announcing the release of six American prisoners. And Rubio? He was in Panama, sheepishly delivering Trump’s threat to take the Canal by force.

But nothing underscored Rubio’s irrelevance more than the now-infamous Oval Office meeting where Trump and J.D. Vance ambushed Zelensky. Because memes of Rubio sinking into the couch, looking like he wished he could disappear, will define his tenure. Lil’ Marco never looked littler.

Indeed, that fateful image prompted Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell to exclaim, “Grow a pair.” Except that telling Rubio to do that is like telling a eunuch to do so. After all, political castration is the initiation for every man who joins the MAGA cult.

Skipping the G20: Fear and folly

Rubio skipped his first G20 meeting because South Africa put DEI and climate change on the agenda. His excuse? Those issues are “too anti-American” to discuss. The real reason? Trump’s autocratic antics have turned the US into a global laughingstock. And Rubio didn’t want to show his face to world leaders who now openly jeer the US and cheer China. He knew he’d have to explain why Trump is acting like a tin-pot dictator.

At this rate, the US and Israel will be each other’s only allies.

Rubio: more Trump’s apprentice than America’s top diplomat

Rubio took Trumpian pride this week in gutting 83% of USAID programs that prevent starvation and fight infectious diseases. Once, he called them essential for national security. Now, he’s serving as Trump’s willing executioner to kill them.

Yet that about-face was surpassed by Rubio’s betrayal of Ukraine. The picture of him delivering Trump and Putin’s surrender terms to a Ukrainian delegation speaks volumes. Because it looks like an arranged marriage between parties who feel nothing but contempt for each other…

The bottom line

By now, Rubio must know that Trump only made him Secretary of State to put a Latino face on racist immigration policies. After all, the only DEI Trump cares about are his “didn’t earn it” hires — like the White, Entitled, and Incompetents (WEI) he picked as special envoys.

No world leader takes Rubio seriously. Especially when Trump’s press secretary is continually mentioning his special envoys more than his Secretary of State.

Alas, Rubio’s historic tenure will be remembered not for his diplomacy but for his humiliation as Trump’s token Latino.