‘A Kind of McCarthyism’: Veteran Journalist Slams Marco Rubio’s State Department Purge of ‘Radical Political Ideology’
MSNBC’s Jonathan Lemire spoke to veteran political reporter Susan Glasser on Friday about Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing 1,300 State Department workers were being removed from their jobs.
“And speaking of government cuts, the State Department will begin mass layoffs of its workforce as early as this morning. Employees were formally notified yesterday that dismissals would finally begin after months of delays. The mass firings are part of a reorganization of the agency that includes closing or merging more than 300 bureaus and offices,” Lemire began, adding:
The plan was unveiled by Secretary of State Marco Rubio back in May. He called his department bloated and said the changes would better align it with core American values and root out pockets of radical political ideology. The Supreme Court cleared the way for the cuts earlier this week after overturning a lower court decision that had blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with the layoffs.
So, Susan, you know, we just talked about one global hotspot, you know, the war in Europe. There are no shortage of them. And I guess to Secretary of State Rubio’s claim there, it’s hard to imagine America being safer with less of a presence overseas. But it seems to be sort of more of an isolationist, inward-looking move for an administration that frankly seems to want to abdicate some of America’s role around the globe.
Glasser, the former editor of Foreign Policy and current New Yorker columnist, replied, “Yeah, I think this is a really important point. First of all, that quote is a remarkable quote from Marco Rubio, formerly not only an establishment-type Republican, but a huge proponent of diplomacy and American soft power around the world. The flip-flop by Marco Rubio is one of the more dramatic, if under-appreciated, stories in Trump 2.0.”
“That quote, what does it do? It underscores the idea that it’s not just a kind of an inward-looking isolationist foreign policy that the Trump administration is pursuing right now, Jonathan. But it’s actually a war against “radical political ideology.” That’s the enemy within. This is a modern-day version, essentially, of a kind of McCarthyism that you’re seeing,” she continued, adding:
Remember that one of McCarthy’s main targets was “enemies,” as he called them, within the State Department who were somehow disloyal. And so that language to me, especially at the State Department, I mean, that’s a historical echo that Marco Rubio had to have been conscious of when he used that phrase. And he, of course, is parroting Donald Trump himself, who I think in one of the most, you know, sort of overlooked statements before the 2024 election, Trump gave an interview in which he said, yeah, you know, we have adversaries.
We have Russia and China internationally, but then we have the enemy from within. And of those, the enemy from within is the greater enemy. And I think this administration isn’t so much focused on countering adversaries overseas as it is in a series of loyalty purges from within. We just heard those horrifying statistics about FEMA and not only the vacancies there but the idea that the Secretary of Homeland Security would want to be personally signing off on minor decisions because they don’t trust federal government employees.
But of course, Russia and China have radically expanded their presence overseas in countries around the world in order to counter the United States in its soft power. So this is like an own goal once again.
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.
