Dave Rubin’s show recently circulated a direct-message clip of Secretary of State Marco Rubio calmly delivering what many Americans would call a necessary warning: Europe should not stand in the way of U.S. operations against Venezuelan drug-smuggling vessels that are pouring fentanyl and other deadly narcotics into our communities. The clip captured Rubio’s frankness — the kind of clarity the country needs when bureaucrats in Brussels lecture the only nation with the will to act.
Rubio didn’t stop at tough talk; he publicly defended the strikes at the G7 and made clear Washington will not seek European permission to defend American lives, even as critics howl about international law. Those operations have been controversial, and reports show multiple strikes with significant loss of life — a grim reminder of the brutal business these narco-terrorists run. The choice is stark: prosecute cartel bosses who traffic death into our towns or listen to elites who value procedure over people.
This administration and Secretary Rubio have repeatedly framed these groups as narco-terrorists and argued that a new posture — including knocking out boats heading for our shores — is the only policy that will change the calculus of the cartels. Rubio has said plainly that a boat full of cocaine or fentanyl headed to the United States is an immediate threat and that more strikes could follow to stop those threats before they reach American children. For those tired of the hollow promise of interdiction, this is finally action that prioritizes lives over international handwringing.
Yet the international chorus from Paris to Brussels has predictably put process ahead of protection, accusing the U.S. of trampling international law while ignoring the human carnage these traffickers cause every day. European moralizing rings hollow when their own streets are safe but our border towns are overwhelmed by the fallout from their passivity toward Latin American tyrants and criminal syndicates. If allies want to lecture, they should first close their markets to illicit money and stop sheltering regimes that enable narco-trafficking.
There are costs to this fight, and political consequences when supposed partners posture rather than partner: Colombia reportedly paused intelligence sharing amid the controversy, showing how diplomatic grandstanding can undercut real-world cooperation. That should be a wake-up call for anyone who still believes the old rules will protect us from new threats; soft responses only embolden cartels and authoritarian regimes that use drugs as a weapon against our society. The choice for conservatives is clear — defend the homeland by any lawful, effective means, or watch criminal enterprises keep winning.
Americans who love their country must back leaders who put our safety first, not those who seek headlines by condemning decisive action. Congress should stop the kabuki theater of hearings and partisan press conferences and instead provide clear support for policies that choke off the flow of fentanyl and cocaine into our neighborhoods. The media’s reflexive outrage won’t stop a single overdose, but a firm policy will save lives, secure our borders, and restore deterrence to a hemisphere that has been bleeding us dry.
This is a test of American resolve and of whether the United States will reclaim the right to defend its citizens without begging permission from elites who prefer virtue-signaling to victory. Conservatives must stand with Rubio and any leader willing to make the hard choices to protect our families, our communities, and our sovereignty. At the end of the day, liberty and life matter more than the soothing lectures of foreign technocrats.
