Top State Department Official Spread False Rumor Marco Rubio Is Gay: ‘What Happens in the Cabana Stays in the Cabana’

(Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images/U.S. State Department)

Darren Beattie, the acting under secretary of state for public diplomacy, spread a false rumor insinuating that his boss, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is gay in deleted tweets unearthed by CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck.

In a since-deleted tweet from January 2021, Beattie wrote “Forget Wainwright park, forget the foam, forget the war promotion and the neocon sugar daddies, forget the low IQ, forget the 2016 primary, Rubio is TOUGH ON CHINA (and good for military industrial complex) So be a good DOG and vote for him!!!”

Kaczynski and Steck explained the context behind the otherwise incomprehensible post:

Beattie invoked far-right conspiracy theories about Rubio’s past, referencing “Wainwright Park” — a curfew violation from Rubio’s teenage years that was later twisted into baseless speculation that Rubio is gay — and “foam,” a reference to similarly unfounded claims about Rubio attending foam parties at gay nightclubs.

“What happens in the Cabana stays in the Cabana #Rubio” added Beattie in another tweet.

In another post, Beattie wondered aloud “If a bunch of DC wonks try to reinvent Marco Rubio as a nationalist, but a ‘respectable’ one who promises tax credits to BLM supporters and is “TOUGH ON CHINA” will you be a good dog and vote for him?”

Beattie, who the Trump administration has said will not be nominated to take on his role in more than an acting capacity, was fired from his speechwriting job in the first Trump administration after he delivered a speech at a conference with white nationalist ties.

He has also been scrutinized for his past rhetoric about America’s enemies in Beijing and Moscow.

“The Chinese aren’t genocidal,” insisted Beattie in 2021. “They just object to uyghur supremacy and uyghurness. If uyghurs simply reject uyghur supremacy, they’ll have no problem functioning in Chinese society.”

“A big part of American ruling class’ [sic] hatred of Russia is that Russia is a major power that rejects the woke ideology at the core of American regime,” he mused that same year.

Beattie has also accused the American government of supporting “Ukrainian neo-Nazi groups” and argued that “Taiwan will inevitably belong to China, it’s only a matter of time. It’s not worth expending any capital to prevent.”

In a statement given to CNN, Beattie declared “Secretary Rubio is 100 percent America First and it’s a tremendous honor to work for him in advancing President Trump’s world historical agenda.”

Rubio declined to comment on the story.