MSNBC’s Jen Psaki Shreds Trump Sec Rubio Over Blockbuster Oval Blowup — Using His Own Words

MSNBC host Jen Psaki shredded Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the blockbuster blowup between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by using the words of then-Sen. Rubio against himself.

Trump and Zelensky met in the Oval Office Friday after weeks of tension over public comments between the two. That meeting devolved into a stunning outright shouting match when Zelensky angered Trump and ended with Zelensky being ejected from the White House and the diplomatic world in a state of shock.

One subplot of the debacle was the reactions of people in the room — Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova went viral for her reaction, and many observers read awkwardness into Rubio’s stony countenance as he sank into an Oval Office couch during the fracas.

On Sunday’s edition of MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki, the host torched Rubio — who has staunchly stood behind Trump since the blowup — for changing his tune on diplomacy since his time as a senator:

JEN PSAKI: One of the indelible images from Donald Trump’s Friday Oval Office meltdown is this picture of his secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

And I cannot help but wonder, as he sunk into that sofa, what on earth was going on in his head?

I mean, Trump and Vance gleefully tried to humiliate President Zelensky in front of reporters right in front of him.

Remember, this is a guy who, as a senator and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, used to be a pretty staunch Russia hawk.

The Rubio we used to know would surely have had a lot to say about all of this. There’s really no better way to show all of you that than using Rubio’s own words to rebut some of Trump’s most outrageous statements from the past two weeks.

For example, Trump recently blamed Ukraine for the war, claiming they should have never started it. And of course, that’s completely wrong. But I’ll let Marco Rubio set the record straight.

THEN-SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Ukraine is not invading Russia. It’s defending itself from a Russian invasion. And that principle of self-defense is, I think, a fundamental one.

JEN PSAKI: But Trump also seems to think that America’s geographic location will surely shield us from war in Europe.

He repeatedly points out that, quote, “We have a big, beautiful ocean, a separation.”.

But that kind of isolationist thinking was discredited a very long time ago, including by his own secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

THEN-SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Our nation is never isolated from the world. What happens across the planet can have a greater impact on your family than what happens down the street.

JEN PSAKI: We also saw Trump get a lot of attention last week when he baselessly accused President Zelensky of being a dictator.

But equally notable was that Trump refused to say the same of Vladimir Putin.

He wouldn’t call Putin a dictator because, as he claimed, quote, “I don’t use those words lightly.”.

So once again, here’s Marco Rubio to clear things up.

THEN-SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Vladimir Putin’s not a president, he’s a dictator.

So we’ll have to deal with them. But that doesn’t mean I don’t recognize him for what he is, which is a thug and a tyrant.

JEN PSAKI: Really can’t argue with him there.

And that brings us to the biggest elephant in the room of all, which is Trump’s strange affinity for Vladimir Putin.

More than once this week, Trump bizarrely defended Putin, claiming that they went through a lot together during the investigation into Russia’s election interference, which Trump still calls a phony witch hunt.

In other words, it’s the same old song and dance. Despite Marco Rubio’s hope that Trump would one day come to his senses and see Putin for who he is.

REPORTER: You’ve said before that you think that once Trump finds out that he is, that he would change his opinion. Do you understand why he thinks so positively of Putin?

THEN-SEN. MARCO RUBIO: I’ve never discussed the issue with him, but again, I think the information is there. And once people learn the true nature of Vladimir Putin, my hope is that some of– he’ll change his opinion and his views with regards to it.

JEN PSAKI: Who– I hope is he’ll change his opinion and his views with regard to it.

Well, Secretary Rubio, it’s been eight years and counting. And clearly Trump’s opinion of Putin has not changed.

What has changed, it seems, is you, Marco Rubio, because Senator Rubio is now Secretary Rubio in the second Trump administration, and what he claimed to believe for years is completely at odds with the administration’s current posture.

It’s not clear whether he even cares. I mean, I can’t read his mind, obviously, but maybe he’s given up on America as a leader on the global stage. Maybe he’s given up on opposing authoritarian regimes, given up on democracy and defending alliances like NATO.

If Secretary Rubio does still believe even just one iota of what he said as a senator over the many years. That is good reason to feel uncomfortable right now. And if he does still believe in any of those principles, begs the question of what he’s doing in this administration in the first place.

Watch above via MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki.