Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed former President Joe Biden on Tuesday for being “suckered” by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and warned that Venezuela is “not going to sucker” President Donald Trump.
During an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday, Rubio explained that Maduro’s “problem” is that he does not honor the deals he makes.
“If you wanted to make a deal with him [Maduro], I don’t know how you do. He’s broken every deal he’s ever made,” Rubio told Hannity. “The problem is Maduro has made five deals with different parties over the last 10 years and has broken every single one of them.”
Rubio criticized the Biden administration for making a deal with Maduro and releasing drug traffickers from U.S. prisons in exchange for the promise of fair elections, which did not occur.
“Maduro asked that his nephews, convicted drug traffickers, be released from U.S. prisons,” Rubio stated. “He asked that his chief money launderer, his money man, his bag man, be released from U.S. custody before he stood trial. In exchange, he promised to hold free and fair elections. He got the nephews back, the drug dealers, he got the bag man back, and he never did the free and fair elections.”
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“They suckered Joe Biden,” Rubio added. “They’re not going to sucker Donald Trump.”
The secretary of state told Hannity that Trump is a “unique figure in modern American history” and that he is willing to sit down and talk to anyone.
“But at the end of the day, there has to be somebody that you can actually make a deal with,” Rubio said. “We’ve made a deal with the Chinese, but Maduro’s never kept a deal. That doesn’t mean the president won’t try.”
During Tuesday’s interview, Rubio told Hannity that Maduro’s regime is “not a legitimate government.” He described the current regime as a “transshipment organization” that allows cocaine and other illegal drugs to be “trafficked through Venezuelan territory” on “airplanes and ships headed towards the United States.” The secretary of state also accused the Venezuelan government of “openly” cooperating with drug dealers.
Rubio also addressed the Trump administration’s repeated strikes on drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean region amid the U.S. military buildup near Venezuela.
“The president has authorized a counter-drug mission in the region,” Rubio stated. “The fact that Maduro is upset about it tells you that drugs are coming out of Venezuela.”
