‘Incompetent Communists’: Marco Rubio Hammers Cuba’s Leadership Amid Trump’s Takeover Threat
Secretary of State Marco Rubio hammered Cuba’s leadership for being a bunch of “incompetent communists” who have run the island into the ground with their economic policies.
Rubio went off on Cuba while filling in for White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday.
“Their economic model doesn’t work. Doesn’t work. And the people who are in charge can’t fix it. And the reason they can’t fix it is not just because they’re communist — that’s bad enough — but they’re incompetent communists,” Rubio said. The only thing worse than a communist is an incompetent one.”
That was part of a lengthy answer after Gray Television correspondent John Decker asked how long the “fuel embargo” on Cuba will last.
The secretary of state said there was “no oil blockade on Cuba, per se,” but that the country had stopped receiving free oil from Venezuela after President Donald Trump’s mission that kidnapped Nicolas Maduro earlier this year.
Rubio said Cuba’s leadership was so cash-strapped that it would take about 60% of the free Venezuelan oil and sell it. That isn’t happening anymore — and has put Cuba in spiral towards complete economic collapse, he said.
“The Venezuelans have decided we’re not giving you free oil anymore,” Rubio said. “And you can only imagine nowadays, the way oil prices are, no one’s giving away free oil — much less to a failed regime.”
His answer comes as Trump has said he plans on revamping the Caribbean island following the Iran war. Trump said in March he will soon “be having the honor of taking Cuba.”
“Whether I free it, take it. I think I can do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth,” Trump told Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy. “They are a very weakened nation.”
More recently, Trump slapped new sanctions on Cuba. He also said last week the U.S. will be taking over Cuba “almost immediately,” but that he wants to “finish” the Iran “job” first.
Watch above via CNN.
New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!
Comments
↓ Scroll down for comments ↓