Rubio laces into communism, leftist political violence at conference on resurgence of political terrorism

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a searing address Thursday in which he attacked communism and exposed leftist violence at a State Department ministerial on The Resurgence of Political Terrorism, which gathered diplomats from nations around the world aimed at combating extremist violence from the political left. 

Rubio delivered the opening remarks at the confab, and began by telling the crowd, "For far too long, our counterterrorism doctrine has had a blind spot -- a blind spot when it comes to extremist violence from the political left. Even today, the very idea that far-left terrorism could be a serious threat is treated as a right-wing fever dream or worse, as a dangerous fascist conspiracy. It's treated this way by many in the press, by many in academia and our universities, and by many of our legacy institutions."

After setting the tone for the meeting, Rubio laced into communism, which is experiencing a sharp resurgence in the U.S., particularly on the political left. 

"One of the criticisms you sometimes hear of communism is that it 'sounds good in theory, but it never works in practice.'"

"That's actually not true," Rubio told the gathering of diplomats. "Communism does not sound good in theory. The world that envisions for all of us is small, flat, gray, leveled of all exception, drained of all that is good and noble in the human soul."

"The world communism envisions," Rubio continued, "is a world without God." He went on to blame Cuba for foisting communist propaganda on Americans, and inspiring leftist terrorists, like members of Antifa. Rubio then called on other countries "to confront this menace together" with the U.S.

Rubio pointed out the recent rise in violence by the political left, saying, "More than 80% of radical violence is now driven by far-left and anarchist actors." He then connected far-left extremists with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, last year, a shooting at a Catholic school carried out by a transgender person, and the multiple attempts to assassinate Donald Trump.

Near the end of his speech, Rubio received a standing ovation when told the room, "It is time for the people of the civilized world to defend ourselves," and drew a contrast between those who espouse Western values, and those who seek to undermine them, saying, "It is easy to destroy great things. It is far more difficult to make them. The enemies of civilization are only capable of the former. They are only capable of destroying great things. All they know is destruction."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant also spoke at the meeting as well as White House adviser Stephen Miller. Watch a highlight of Rubio's remarks on communism below and view his full speech here.