Marco Rubio And Steve Witkoff Explain Trump's Clever Gambit To Give Putin Everything

It's your Sunday shows rundown!

Again, reality is crazier than a Simpson’s gag.

After Vladimir Putin’s temporary (for now) invasion of Alaska somehow went even more poorly than anyone predicted, the Trump administration sent out its Russian negotiating “dream team” to the Sunday shows to play clean-up.

SPOILER: It went about as well as the Putin/Trump Alaskan summit went.

Marco Rubio

Former Florida Republican senator, perpetual empty suit, and current secretary of State Marco Rubio made multiple appearances on NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox News.

We’ll mainly focus on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”

After host Kristen Welker asked why the US is not imposing sanctions on Russia, despite Trump's threat to do so if talks failed, Rubio droned on about the ineffectiveness of such measures. But while Rubio tried to tell the audience we’re lucky to have “Donald the Dove” keeping Putin at bay, Welker showed a chart that undid that very point.

WELKER: Russian attacks on Ukraine have nearly doubled since President Trump came into office. And in fact, in July, Russia launched more than 6,000 missiles and drones. That's the highest amount of attacks since the war began.

Heckuva job, Donnie. You sure showed Putin.

Rubio then pivoted to the need for concessions for this “war” between Ukraine and Russia to end. While Rubio was able to enumerate what Ukraine should give up, he was very vague on anything Russia should give up.

WELKER: What will Russia have to give up? What concessions will Russia, the aggressor, have to make as a part of this peace agreement?

RUBIO: Well, that's – that’s what these negotiations are about. And as you can imagine, everybody goes into a negotiation wanting 100 percent of what they want. […]

WELKER: And I understand that these negotiations are ongoing. But can you name one thing that President Trump is asking Russia to give up in order to get peace?

RUBIO: Well, I'm not going to disclose those things because if we do, then you can imagine our negotiations could fall apart.

Rubio kept insisting they could make a deal with Putin to end the war and negotiate peace, but Welker decided to play a sound bite from an opposing voice: 2022 Marco Rubio.

2022 RUBIO: This guy lies, habitually lies. He's never kept a deal they've ever signed. And he lies all the time. And I don't know why, but he plays us like a – like a violin in the West because the West wants to believe that you can cut a deal with everybody. You can't cut a deal with guys like this. He's a professional, experienced liar.

This is not the first time Marco Rubio has given up any semblance of political beliefs for power and status, won’t be the last.

Rubio tried to square his current position with his past position by saying he could make a deal with a guy you can’t cut a deal with [Putin] by making sure there are consequences and enforcement mechanisms, which he refused to disclose or even name.

Yeah, not confusing at all

Not content to merely show that he’s a piece of shit negotiator, Rubio clarified he’s also a piece of shit human being on CBS’s “Face The Nation.”

Margaret Brennan asked Rubio why the State Department just announced that it's halting visitor visas for all Gazans coming here for medical aid.

BRENNAN: Why would some of these kids, for example, who are coming to hospitals for treatment be a threat?

Rubio’s response was as nonsensical as it was cruel.

RUBIO: Well, first of all, it's not just kids. It's a bunch of adults that are accompanying them. Second, we had outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it. And so we're going to reevaluate how those visas are being granted, not just to the children, but how those visas are being granted […] There is evidence been presented to us by numerous congressional offices that some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas.

Two things:

1. Adult parents/guardians of sick children would accompany them, anywhere, for medical treatment. That’s how parenting works. Sending your child away alone, especially with a genocide happening that could kill that child’s entire family, is not reasonable action.

2. What actual evidence does Rubio have for this claim? Because if xenophobia from the offices of Chip Roy and Randy Fine (after they thanked Laura Loomer on social media for “bringing their attention” to the medical visas for wounded children from Gaza) is the “evidence” he means, that is not evidence, you feckless you feckless fuck.

Steve Witkoff

Trump’s golf buddy, master negotiator, and envoy to everywhere Steve Witkoff was on CNN’s “State Of The Union.”

After Jake Tapper gave a summary of the failure of the Putin/Trump meeting, Witkoff was asked about the concessions Rubio mentioned earlier on the other shows. Witkoff’s Russian “concessions” sounded more like another C-word: capitulation.

WITKOFF: We agreed to robust security guarantees that I would describe as game-changing. We didn't think that we were anywhere close to agreeing to Article 5 protection from the United States, legislative enshrinement within the Russian Federation not to go after any other territory when the peace deal is codified, legislative enshrinement […] not to go after any other European countries and violate their sovereignty.

What could go wrong? It’s not like Russia violated a previously signed, legally binding agreement not to go after any part of Ukraine in 2014 or 1997 or 1994 or 1991, amirite?

Tapper asked about the aforementioned NATO Article 5 protections, but Witkoff clarified that Ukraine would not exactly be getting that.

WITKOFF: That's not what I said. […] I said is that we got to an agreement that the United States and other European nations could effectively offer Article 5-like language to cover a security guarantee. […] The United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO. We sort of were able to bypass that and get an agreement that the United States could offer Article 5 protection, which was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.

We all know the reason Russia would agree to this deal. They would be allowed to keep everything they’ve taken from Ukraine, and under Trump, that security guarantee would be as good as a Trump University diploma.

So far in Trump’s second administration, the only people whose lives have benefited materially are Putin and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Totally a mystery why that is.

Have a week.

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