Welcome to Tuesday’s Washington Secrets. Today, we look at Marco Rubio’s quiet April, when he largely avoided journalists. All that changes Tuesday when he appears in the White House. Could it be a coincidence that he briefs the media on the same day that his chief rival for the 2028 GOP nomination is hitting the early nominating state of Iowa?
When the Secretary of State takes the lectern in the White House briefing room as maternity cover for Karoline Leavitt, the assembled press corps could be forgiven for asking: Where have you been?
Marco Rubio, long the rising star of this administration, known for standing at the president’s elbow to take tricky questions about Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, or Ukraine, all but disappeared from the airwaves last month.
In February and March, the dual-hatted foreign policy chief was averaging two media appearances a week. A slew of profile pieces suggested his deft touch and assured TV performances meant he had moved ahead in the race for the 2028 Republican Party nomination. It felt like he was everywhere.
Since then, the war in Iran has stalled, and Republicans have been anxious to shift the conversation to tax cuts and domestic wins ahead of the midterm elections.
Plus, it is not easy being Secretary of State and National Security Adviser for such an unpredictable boss who can change direction without warning.
Nor do you want to take too much of the limelight. That’s a surefire way to lose favor.
A Washington Secrets analysis of Rubio’s media appearances shows just how steep the drop-off was. He sat for just one TV interview during the entire month of April. The appearance with Trey Yingst of Fox News had been long-scheduled, way before Rubio took a step back.
That solitary appearance marked a stark change from the preceding two months.
Rubio sat for three interviews in the last two days of March alone: with Sean Hannity of Fox News, George Stephanopoulos for ABC’s Good Morning America, and Hashem Ahelbarra of Al Jazeera. He also delivered what the State Department calls “remarks to the press” on four occasions.
Sample question on Iran, asked on the apron of a French airport: “How seriously is the United States considering deploying ground troops?”
February was similar. He sat for an interview with Bloomberg, and the State Department website lists three “press availabilities” and two “remarks to press.”
Sample question: “On the subject of Iran and the negotiations tomorrow, and your own plans in terms of the Middle East and Israel, what should we be looking for next?”
Tommy Piggott, spokesman for the State Department, punched back at any suggestion that Rubio had been keeping a lower profile, saying it was a “fake premise.”
“Just look at his many on-record comments and gaggles with the press,” he told Secrets. “Secretary Rubio will be briefing the press from the White House briefing room at 3pm.”
Longtime members of the State Department’s press corps have welcomed his gaggles, even if they wearily point out that he has given only one press conference. That means his appearance in the White House briefing room equals the number of times he has held a press conference at the State Department.
The occasion also offers a vivid split-screen view of the 2028 nomination race. Rubio will be addressing reporters, while Vice President JD Vance will be visiting the key early nominating state of Iowa.
MARCO RUBIO’S 2028 MOMENTUM IS GETTING IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE
Coincidence? Secrets thinks not, when the president is a man who reached global fame with a TV show premised on the idea of finding talent to follow in his footsteps.
In the meantime, a former administration official said it was no surprise that Rubio had stepped back from the cameras in recent weeks.
“He doesn’t want to get ahead of the president. When things are so fluid and changing by the hour, and when the president is the one leading messaging on a daily basis, it makes sense,” they said.
“It also means that when he does talk to the press it has a bigger impact.”
It didn’t stop Rubio from getting good press, either. A video of the Secretary of State manning the DJ booth at a Florida wedding went viral over the weekend, with delighted social media users saying it showed he was just like anyone else at a party.
But today, he goes in front of the cameras in one of the biggest impact situations possible.
Pat Buchanan, who shaped the debate on the Right from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump, is being recognized with a Bulldog Award for lifetime achievement from the Media Research Center.
Buchanan is one of eight people or organizations who will be honored in the awards, which are designed to recognize conservative voices that the organizers say are overlooked by liberal media prizes.
They were announced on Tuesday, a day after the Pulitzer Prizes, and were shared early with Washington Secrets.
The winners are:
- Lifetime Achievement: Patrick J. Buchanan
- Outstanding Podcast: Morning Wire
- Outstanding Social Media Personality: Stephen L. Miller
- Outstanding Columnist: Douglas Murray
- Outstanding Investigative Journalist: Nick Minock
- Outstanding Reporter: Jennie Taer
- Outstanding Radio Talk Show Host: Dana Loesch
- Outstanding Achievement Behind Enemy Lines: Shermichael Singleton
You can read an extra dose of Secrets with all the details HERE.
Quote of the day
Remember Kharg Island, the Iranian chunk of rock that became target No. 1 in late March as a way for the U.S. to seize control of Tehran’s oil industry? You can forget about it now.
Sen. Lindsey Graham has reversed course from his position that the U.S. Marines should be sent in to take it so that the regime would “die on the vine.” On Monday, he told Sean Hannity:
“I’m not a real advocate of taking Kharg Island. I think we oughta tell the Iranians we will destroy it from the air.”
Lunchtime reading
What to watch in Tuesday’s primaries in Indiana and Ohio: Today will be a key test of Donald Trump’s hold on his party. Plus, Turning Point USA had made Indiana one of its battlegrounds, warning incumbents they could be ousted if they did not buy into redistricting plans. How real are its threats without the charisma of Charlie Kirk behind it?
‘The Man Behind the Cane’ Review: A Prelude to Brutality: “On May 22, 1856, a furious South Carolina congressman named Preston Brooks stalked into the U.S. Senate’s ornate chamber, surprised the seated Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, and beat him nearly to death with a cane.” Some 30 members of the Senate watched, some aghast, some approvingly. This book explains why…
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