In a powerful address that shatters decades of diplomatic orthodoxy, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a fierce broadside against what he termed a systemic blind spot in global security: the rising tide of far-left terrorism.
Speaking before delegates from over 60 nations, Rubio cast aside decades of conventional counterterrorism doctrine to deliver an acknowledgment of reality, demanding a total eradication of transnational militant networks.
Rubio unmasked the true nature of the enemy, describing it not as a political movement, but as a visceral hatred for human achievement.
&#8220;This is a distinctive and unique evil. It has always been driven by a hatred. Above all else, a hatred for civilization itself,&#8221; Rubio said. &#8220;It is a revolt of the worst against the best. A revolt of the weak and the cowardly against the strong and the good. It is perpetrated by those who cannot build, who cannot create, who cannot achieve great things, and take their revenge upon the world for their own inadequacy by seeking to destroy those who can.”
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Credit: Dept. of State
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To confront this highly coordinated, borderless network — which he linked directly to the intelligence operations of the Cuban regime and Iranian proxy networks — Rubio announced a sweeping American offensive. Under National Security Presidential Memorandum No. 7, the United States has instituted multi-million-dollar bounties to disrupt anarchist financing and officially designated multiple violent far-left groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Rubio began by reminding the international coalition that the most essential duty of the state is the protection of its people. For the past quarter-century, he noted, that architecture was built entirely around combating radical Islamist extremism following the trauma of 9/11. Yet, while celebrating a 97% drop in jihadist fatalities in Europe due to robust global coalitions, Rubio declared that a new, domestic darkness has been left unchecked by legacy institutions.
&#8220;For far too long, however, our counterterrorism doctrine has had a blind spot,&#8221; Rubio proclaimed, explicitly confronting the mainstream reluctance to name left-wing extremism.
In a dramatic reckoning with the status quo, the Secretary dismantled the cultural double standards that have long coddled radical agitators. To them, a bomb planted by a neo-Nazi group was a nefarious and murderous act of evil, but a bomb planted by a Marxist revolutionary, well, that would merely be a “tragic excess of idealism. Perhaps its means were misplaced or overzealous. But it ends were virtuous and just.”
Rubio fiercely rejected this institutional prejudice, pointing directly to the devastating summer riots of 2020 where American cities burned while media chyrons infamously read &#8220;mostly peaceful.&#8221;
Rubio elevated the address from a standard policy update into a crusade for Western civilization itself.
He methodically cataloged a modern trail of blood: a 72-year-old mother firebombed to death in Greece, a devastating winter blackout sabotaged by militants in Berlin, Germany, and a young man beaten to death by far-left thugs on the streets of Lyon, France. This violence, Rubio stressed, is not a modern novelty but the resurgence of an old, poisonous resentment.
He invoked the grim history of the Cold War, forcing the room to remember the bloody campaigns of the Tupamaros, the Montoneros, and the inhuman savagery of Peru&#8217;s Shining Path. He reminded Europe of the Red Brigades and the Red Army Faction, and reminded America of the Weather Underground&#8217;s bombs. Today, that old evil has returned with terrifying efficiency, he explained.
Rubio revealed that far-left violence has jumped by more than 40 percent in Germany, while accounting for over 80 percent of radical violence in Greece.
He ended with a powerful promise to &#8220;dismantle these networks brick by brick.&#8221;
&#8220;It is time for the people of the civilized world to defend ourselves, to stand united against this encroaching darkness and fight,&#8221; Rubio said. &#8220;Fight for what is ours.&#8221;
&#8220;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. But we have built great things together. We have done it time and again. We know what we must do, and now we must do it.&#8221;

State Department Holds Ministerial On The Resurgence Of Political Terrorism

Rubio Levels The Left, Pledges To Crush Global Marxist Terror Networks In Historic Address

Leftist Terrorism

Marco Rubio

Secretary of State

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is effectively running key parts of Venezuela from Washington, according to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/us/politics/how-marco-rubio-runs-venezuela.html?campaign_id=190&amp;amp;emc=edit_ufn_20260712&amp;amp;instance_id=178606&amp;amp;nl=from-the-times&amp;amp;regi_id=306413263&amp;amp;segment_id=222970&amp;amp;user_id=1cd699f6e5698983afd2a8a4030b003b">New York Times report.</a> 
The Times reported that Rubio has taken a leading role in shaping Venezuela policy, including overseeing sanctions, influencing how the country&#8217;s oil revenue is managed, and maintaining regular contact with acting Venezuelan president Delcy Rodríguez following the U.S. operation that captured former dictator Nicolás Maduro.
According to the Times, much of Venezuela&#8217;s oil export revenue now flows through the U.S. Treasury before being disbursed under conditions set by Rubio and his team. The report says Rubio has also played a key role in determining which foreign companies receive sanctions exemptions to operate in the country while encouraging greater participation by American firms.
The Times also reported that Rubio has used that leverage to push Venezuela away from Iran, China, and Russia. According to the report, Rodríguez regularly consults Washington on major government appointments while Rubio’s team helps shape economic and diplomatic decisions.
The report provides additional context for testimony Rubio gave before Congress in January, when he argued the administration&#8217;s efforts were aimed at stabilizing Venezuela rather than occupying it.
“There is no war against Venezuela, and we did not occupy a country,” Rubio <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/01/28/nx-s1-5690365/rubio-senate-venezuela">told</a> senators. “There are no U.S. troops on the ground.”
The administration named career diplomat Laura F. Dogu as chargé d’affaires to Venezuela, restoring a diplomatic post for the first time since 2019. For the first time in two decades, he added, serious talks are underway to roll back Iranian, Chinese, and Russian influence in the country.
Rubio has said the administration&#8217;s long-term goal is a stable and prosperous Venezuela that eventually holds free elections. The Times reported that, for now, Rubio continues to exercise significant influence over many of Venezuela&#8217;s most consequential financial and policy decisions.

President Trump Observes Operation Epic Fury From Mar-a-Lago

Marco Rubio Takes On Extraordinary Role In Venezuela

Global Politics

Politics

Venezuela

Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed the Trump administration&#8217;s anti-globalism campaign forward on Monday and took aim at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which Rubio called the “unaccountable arbiter of a new global law.”
The ICC claims it possesses authority to prosecute American officials and servicemen who work for America’s interests. The secretary wrote a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/why-were-dismantling-the-icc-0af0a8a6?mod=hp_opin_pos_2">Wall Street Journal</a> opinion piece on the ICC’s latest affronts to American law. Rubio <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/2076671740407652582?s=20">said</a> the ICC wants to remove America’s sovereignty.
“They believe that they should be in charge of your laws, of your country, your life — and they don’t care whether or not you agree,” Rubio said.
Rubio perceives the ICC’s actions as waging war against the United States under the guise of “international law.” He added that the court is filled with “unelected globalist bureaucrats&#8221; who assert nearly limitless authority.
“The ICC is backed and run by a powerful network of leftist nongovernmental organizations, smug globalists, and hostile Third World governments united by their enmity toward the U.S.,” Rubio wrote.
The ICC has taken action against the United States in recent years, including launching an investigation into “war crimes by members of the United States armed forces” in Afghanistan. 
Last year, major activist groups <a href="https://ccrjustice.org/civil-society-calls-urgent-un-action-denounce-usel-salvador-detention-agreement">pushed the court</a> to prosecute the Trump administration for deporting violent illegal immigrants to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center. Rubio also pointed out that, last year, a former chief prosecutor of the ICC accused the United States of violating international law by issuing an airstrike against an alleged drug smuggling boat — what the former chief prosecutor claimed was “a crime against humanity.” The former ICC prosecutor also called U.S. servicemen “criminals, not soldiers.” 
“If we stand idle, all of them [American servicemen] would be at the mercy of foreign judges thousands of miles away, facing the constant risk of prosecution and even imprisonment for the so-called ‘crime’ of defending their own country,” Rubio added in a video released Monday.
The State Department also released a <a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/07/state-department-launches-campaign-to-dismantle-international-criminal-courts-threat-to-american-sovereignty/">document</a> on Monday detailing Rubio’s campaign against the ICC, which includes calling on the senior leadership of other nations to discuss the threat the ICC poses and encouraging withdrawal from the international court. Rubio is also pushing for greater scrutiny of nations that continue to comply with the ICC while using U.S. assistance and encouraging other nations not aligned with the ICC to “leverage their diplomatic networks” and take action along with the United States.
The department also imposed visa bans and travel restrictions on ICC personnel and greater sanctions against the ICC and affiliated organizations. 
The ICC was originally established in 2002 to prosecute only the most serious offenses, such as genocide or war crimes, and only if a nation’s court couldn’t prosecute these issues on its own. It marketed itself as a global backdrop, not seeking to interfere with nations’ internal affairs. However, Rubio listed several examples of the ICC overstepping its bounds and seeking to remove America’s sovereignty, in addition to its targeting of the Trump administration over actions taken on immigration and national security concerns. 
<a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260306-us-group-urge-iran-to-grant-icc-jurisdiction-over-apparent-war-crimes/">In March</a>, the American organization Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) told Iran to file a “declaration” to allow the ICC to have “jurisdiction over crimes committed on its territory since the war began” against the United States. The ICC has also <a href="https://www.cfr.org/articles/international-criminal-court-prosecutor-threatens-united-states-senators">called for arrest warrants</a> against Israeli officials, and 12 U.S. senators told the ICC that such action would be perceived as a threat to both Israel’s sovereignty and the United States.
“The United States will not tolerate politicized attacks by the ICC on our allies,” the 12 senators wrote in response. “Target Israel and we will target you.” 
The ICC responded in a post on social media, saying that anyone who threatens to retaliate against the court is an “offense against the administration of justice.”

2026 NATO Leaders Summit In Ankara

Marco Rubio Draws A Line Against An International Power Grab

Globalism

International Criminal Court

State Department

Trump Administration

Minnesota officials recommended a pardon for a child rapist in a failed attempt to shield him from deportation, according to state documents. 
The Minnesota Clemency Review Commission voted 4-2 to recommend a pardon for 42-year-old Laotian national Tou Lue Vang, who was convicted for repeatedly sexually assaulting a girl beginning when she was just 10 years old. Despite its recommendation and a pardon from Governor Tim Walz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/marco-rubio-just-dropped-the-hammer-after-tim-walzs-pardon-of-an-illegal-immigrant-child-sex-offender?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Team+Drops+The+Hammer+After+Tim+Walz%E2%80%99s+Illegal+Alien+Pardon">announced</a> Friday that Vang had been deported. 
Members of the commission claimed Vang had been rehabilitated and pointed to the possibility he would be deported when pushing for a pardon, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/exposed-docs-reveal-why-tim-walz-board-awarded-repeat-child-rapist-pardon-no-future">according</a> to documents reviewed by Fox News. Beginning in 2002, Vang repeatedly had sexual intercourse with a young girl over a two year period starting when he was 18 and she was 10. 
&#8220;Despite the extraordinary severity of the underlying offense, there is substantial evidence of rehabilitation, remorse and acceptance of responsibility,” claimed clemency commissioner and University of Minnesota law professor Perry Moriearty. Moriearty added that Vang &#8220;is facing deportation&#8221; and said that the &#8220;victim supports” the pardon, the documents viewed by Fox News show. 
The Daily Wire reached out to the Minnesota Clemency Review Commission for comment.
When arrested, he claimed it was part of his culture and said the victim should be charged as well. &#8220;I made a mistake, but this is a minor thing. It is a cultural thing in Thailand to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12,” he reportedly told police. 
For the crime, Vang spent just eight months at the Ramsey County, Minnesota, Correctional Workhouse and was given 30 years of supervised probation. The family of the victim pressured her to refuse to cooperate with law enforcement, according to prosecutors. 
Other members of the commission noted that Vang noted his fears of deportation and that he now has a large family. 
&#8220;The applicant stated the need for clemency related to immigration issues,” said commissioner Artika Roller, the executive director of Cornerstone, a <a href="https://cornerstonemn.org/about/leadership/">group</a> that purports to support victims of sexual violence. Roller supported the pardon. 
The Daily Wire also reached out to Cornerstone for comment. 
&#8220;Very tough case but the kids not having a father is not in the best interest of society,&#8221; said commission member and Mounds View Mayor Zach Lindstrom.
&#8220;The victim supports this pardon. His [Vang’s] wife stayed and has forgiven. He also [has] immigration concerns. He has remorse and was discharged from probation,” wrote commissioner Nadine Graves. &#8220;He retracted his prior statement about this being a result of culture. He admits this was wrong then and will always be wrong.&#8221;
Tami McConkey, director of the Victim Witness &amp; Postconviction Justice Division in Ramsey County, urged the commission to not recommend a pardon. 
&#8220;While Mr. Vang expresses shame and regret about what his children experience when then [sic] learn of the offense, he does not share any thoughts or insight about what the victim must have gone through,” she said. 
Walz, Democrat Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson ultimately accepted the recommendation and pardoned Vang.
Vang first came to the United States in 1994 and was given legal status by the Clinton administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security. An immigration judge issued Vang a final deportation order on October 31, 2006, following his conviction.
“Americans must never be forced by their elected leaders to live alongside foreign sex criminals who have no right to begin with to reside in our country,” Rubio said Friday when he announced Vang’s deportation. “This administration will always stand with the American people and defend them from violent criminals.”

JD Vance And Tim Walz Face Off In Vice Presidential Debate In New York

Read The Insane Argument Officials Made Against Deporting Child Rapist Pardoned By Tim Walz

Department of Homeland Security

Illegal Immigation

Minnesota

Pardon

Sex Crimes

Tim Walz

The Trump administration has swooped in to deport an illegal immigrant child sex offender weeks after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pardoned him.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that he revoked the legal status of Laotian national Tou Lue Vang, resulting in his deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Minnesota Board of Pardons voted on June 10 to grant Vang a pardon despite his past conviction for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl.
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.<a href="https://x.com/ICEgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ICEgov</a> has DEPORTED Tou Vang, the illegal alien CHILD RAPIST <a href="https://x.com/GovTimWalz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovTimWalz</a> pardoned in an attempt to allow him to remain in our country.
While Walz and his fellow sanctuary politicians fight to protect heinous criminals like this, we will continue putting the safety of the… <a href="https://t.co/QCzSnYh4zA">https://t.co/QCzSnYh4zA</a> <a href="https://t.co/rjBXI5qhlj">pic.twitter.com/rjBXI5qhlj</a>
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2075579268369649674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;As of today, he has been removed from the United States. Because of our action, this foreign criminal will never pose a threat to any American ever again,&#8221; Rubio said in a <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/2075567815856177323">video</a> posted to X.
&#8220;Americans must never be forced by their elected leaders to live alongside foreign sex criminals who have no right to begin with to reside in our country. This administration will always stand with the American people and defend them from violent criminals,&#8221; he said.
The board, which includes Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison, and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, spared Vang days before he was set to be deported, Rubio said. Vang lost his legal status after he was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The Laotian man tried to bribe his victim into silence and dismissed his crimes as &#8220;a cultural thing &#8230; to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12,&#8221; according to DHS.
The Minnesota Board of Pardons granted Vang a reprieve after receiving letters submitted in support of the foreign man, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/01/us/politics/minnesota-pardon-sexual-abuser.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uVA._PKl.HFrBqKOvwsY8&amp;amp;smid=url-share" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to The New York Times. One of the letters was authored by his victim, who said she had forgiven Vang and supported his request for a pardon.
Minnesota officials cited the victim&#8217;s statement as a major reason for their decision to pardon Vang.
The Ramsey County Attorney&#8217;s Office, which prosecuted the original case against Vang, opposed the pardon and argued that he received a lenient sentence of 30 years&#8217; probation because the victim, who was 12 at the time of prosecution, “was experiencing pressure from her family to not cooperate,&#8221; The New York Times reported.
Vang first came to the United States in 1994 and was given legal status by the Clinton administration, according to DHS.
An immigration judge issued Vang a final deportation order on October 31, 2006, following his conviction.
Vang is not the first foreigner Minnesota officials have attempted to shield from deportation. On May 27, 2026, the Minnesota Board of Pardons granted a pardon to Jai Vang, a Laotian illegal immigrant with felony convictions for robbery and robbery of a business with a gun, as well as a conviction for driving under the influence of liquor, according to DHS.

Minnesota Oversight 3/04/26

Trump Team Drops The Hammer After Tim Walz’s Illegal Alien Pardon

deportation

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host representatives from more than 60 countries next week for a counterterrorism summit focused on what the Trump administration describes as a resurgence of transnational political extremism, particularly violent far-left networks.
The July 15 gathering in Washington follows President Donald Trump&#8217;s counterterrorism strategy released earlier this year, which prioritizes disrupting politically motivated violent groups, including anarchist movements and what the administration describes as Antifa-affiliated networks, while also addressing extremists on the political right. 
According to the State Department, the meeting will bring together ministers and senior officials from Europe, Asia, and the Western Hemisphere to improve intelligence sharing and law enforcement cooperation against politically motivated violence. 
&#8220;Our counterterrorism operating system needs an update to deal with the reality of such threats, to protect American citizens and U.S. national security and interests,&#8221; a State Department official told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/rubio-host-summit-political-violence-july-15-2026-06-26/">Reuters</a>.
The initiative, however, has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/07/09/rubio-tries-enlist-other-nations-antifa-fight-some-allies-recoil/">drawn criticism</a> from some current and former government officials, European diplomats, and terrorism experts, many of whom argue the administration is overstating the scale of the far-left threat. Some European officials have reportedly questioned why their governments were invited, saying left-wing political terrorism is not viewed as a major national security concern in their countries. Others have expressed concern that expanding counterterrorism authorities could eventually be applied against domestic political activists. 
The summit comes after several high-profile incidents involving alleged Antifa-affiliated extremists in the United States.
Most notably, the Justice Department last month <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-antifa-cell-members-north-texas-sentenced-100-years-prison-terrorist-attack-ice">announced</a> lengthy prison sentences for members of what prosecutors described as a &#8220;North Texas Antifa cell&#8221; that carried out a coordinated July 4, 2025, attack on the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. Prosecutors said the group arrived armed with firearms, explosives, body armor, and medical kits before launching fireworks and explosives at the facility, vandalizing property, and opening fire on responding officers. One Alvarado police officer was shot in the neck during the attack. 
Federal prosecutors argued the attack demonstrated planning, encrypted communications, reconnaissance, and coordination consistent with organized political violence rather than spontaneous protest. FBI Director Kash Patel said investigators would continue targeting Antifa funding networks. 
The administration has also cited repeated confrontations outside ICE detention facilities and immigration enforcement operations as evidence that violent anarchist networks have become increasingly organized.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott defended the summit, saying far-left political terrorism is &#8220;an old threat re-emerging with strong transnational links and new convergences&#8221; and argued that previous administrations had not adequately addressed it. 
&nbsp;

NATO Summit In Ankara Day 2

Rubio Bringing 60 Nations Together To Confront A Growing Threat

Anarchism

Antifa

Terrorism

World

A prolific Republican donor stated on Wednesday that he would support Secretary of State Marco Rubio rather than Vice President JD Vance if they both run in the 2028 GOP presidential primary.
Ken Griffin, a billionaire investor who contributed over $100 million during the 2024 election, made the remark at a private conference known as the “Billionaire Summer Camp” in Sun Valley, Idaho, according to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/08/ken-griffin-gop-rubio-vance-2028">Axios</a>. With his piles of cash, Griffin would be an influential asset for Rubio in a presidential cycle.
During a Q&amp;A session at the conference, interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Griffin if he would back Rubio or Vance in a 2028 GOP presidential primary. Griffin said he has historically supported Rubio and donated to his unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign. Griffin also advised President Trump during the 2024 vice presidential search not to choose Vance.
While Griffin noted he would be inclined to support Rubio again if he were to run in 2028, Rubio has stated he would step aside and support Vance if the vice president ran.
&#8220;If JD Vance runs for president, he&#8217;s going to be our nominee, and I&#8217;ll be one of the first people to support him,&#8221; Rubio <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/trump-susie-wiles-interview-exclusive-part-2?_sp=66ff928d-0547-4be8-9f21-3d5c5d7322ce.1773164665694">told</a> Vanity Fair last year.
In May, Trump suggested that if Vance and Rubio teamed up on a Republican ticket for 2028, it would be &#8220;a dream team.&#8221;
&#8220;I think it sounds like presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate,” Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-takes-a-spontaneous-2028-presidential-straw-poll-vance-or-rubio">told</a> a group of law enforcement supporters at the White House.
Griffin did not donate to Trump’s 2024 campaign and instead supported former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. In 2022, Griffin told Republicans to move on from Trump, adding that it’s “time to move on to the next generation,” according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/06/gop-megadonor-desantis-24-ken-griffin-00065274">Politico</a>.
During Trump’s second term, Griffin has both praised some of the president&#8217;s policies and criticized others, as he supported Trump&#8217;s deregulation efforts while disapproving of his tariffs.

Trump, Vance, Rubio

GOP Megadonor Plants His Flag In Potential 2028 Primary

2028 presidential election

JD Vance

Ken Griffin

Earlier this week, federal authorities arrested a Cuban operative who allegedly assisted far-Left activists, including Hasan Piker. The Trump administration now plans to deport the Cuban national.
The State Department revoked Carlos Antonio Lloga Dominguez&#8217;s immigration status after he &#8220;spent more than a decade working as a foreign subversive for the Communist Cuban regime’s premier influence and intelligence front group in the United States,&#8221; agency spokesperson Thomas Pigott said Wednesday. Federal authorities also nabbed Lloga Dominguez&#8217;s wife and son.
The Cuban national &#8220;spent more than a decade in the United States working for the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the People (ICAP),&#8221; a communist organization that Secretary of State Marco Rubio sanctioned in June over its ties to the Cuban regime, Pigott said.
&#8220;He has continued to maintain ties to the transnational communist subversion network throughout his time residing in our nation,&#8221; Pigott said.
The State Department describes ICAP as &#8220;the central node in a sprawling Cuban intelligence and influence operation, claiming to span more than 2,000 organizations across more than 150 countries,&#8221; adding that the group &#8220;has a long and intimate relationship&#8221; with Cuban intelligence officials.
ICAP&#8217;s current president Fernando González Llort served 15 years in an American prison for acting as a Cuban spy, according to the State Department.
Pigott added that the Marxist group has been complicit in “trafficking in vile anti-American propaganda, cultivating pro-Havana regime activists and politicians, and lobbying federal, state and local politicians on behalf of the Cuban dictatorship.” He said the group sought to use America’s Left-wing advocates to export Cuba&#8217;s communism.
“Under the Trump Administration, America will never become home for Cuban Communist regime thugs who peddle propaganda, run foreign influence operations, or seek to wage revolution against American civilization,” Pigott said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
For decades, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the People – or “ICAP” – has been a vehicle for radical left-wing extremism and subversive foreign influence in the United States and across our hemisphere. ICAP is the Cuban regime’s premier influence and intelligence front…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/2072311059302551604?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
ICAP worked with Left-wing nonprofits in the United States, including the People&#8217;s Forum, Progressive International, and Code Pink, to organize a convoy to bring supplies to Cuba that Piker joined in March, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rubio-sanctions-cuban-groups-ties-us-nonprofit-network-funded-communist-donor-neville-roy-singham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> previously reported.
Federal investigators began probing advocacy groups in the United States that have been lobbying, messaging, fundraising, and organizing with Cuban government officials, according to Fox News. As part of the investigation, authorities have reportedly been looking into Piker, Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin, and Code Pink D.C. coordinator Olivia DiNucci.
The Treasury Department issued administrative subpoenas to Piker and Benjamin requesting records related to their travel to Cuba, communications, and financial activity connected to the convoy, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-treasury-investigate-nonprofits-leaders-allegedly-coordinating-cuba-influence-campaign" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in May.
During a Twitch stream, Piker <a href="https://x.com/Awk20000/status/2072463036129087592">denied</a> knowing Lloga Dominguez or ICAP.
“I don&#8217;t understand why they&#8217;re covering this as like the organization that sent Hasan Piker to Cuba,” he said.
“Bro, Trump is gonna put me in f*ckin&#8217; prison, I swear to God, what the hell is going on?” Piker said. &#8220;We&#8217;re about to hit f*ckin’ 1930s Germany if we haven&#8217;t already hit it and &#8230; these dumb f*cks on the Democratic Party side are still complaining about the people that the Trump admin is actively targeting, and they’re also taking advantage of that active targeting because they also don&#8217;t like us, great.”
In a <a href="https://x.com/bear_ing/status/2059257115223728408" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resurfaced</a> clip, Piker said a contact was communicating with the Cuban regime on his behalf to possibly organize a trip.
“The Cuban government actually hit my contact from the embassy and told them that ‘if the only thing stopping Hasan from coming to Cuba was the consistent internet access, we can make it happen.’” Piker said.
ICAP, which was founded by Fidel Castro in 1960, has denied acting on behalf of the Communist Cuban regime, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/alleged-cuban-influence-operative-family-federal-custody-after-rubio-revokes-legal-status" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.

Hasan Piker

Trump’s Mass Deportation Effort Comes For Operative Tied To Hasan Piker’s Pro-Cuba Propaganda

Code Pink

Cuba

Espionage

The Trump administration&#8217;s massive earthquake relief operation in Venezuela is highlighting a remarkable shift in U.S.-Venezuelan relations just six months after U.S. special forces captured former dictator Nicolás Maduro.
After two massive earthquakes measuring magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 struck north-central Venezuela last week, the United States launched a robust relief operation, <a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/06/update-on-the-trump-administrations-robust-and-rapid-delivery-of-life-saving-u-s-assistance-to-venezuela">committing</a> more than $300 million in aid and deploying troops, humanitarian workers, and search-and-rescue teams across the country.
So far, the death toll stands at roughly 2,295 people, with that number expected to rise as more bodies are recovered from the rubble.
The response stands in contrast to the hostile relationship that existed only months earlier, when the United States seized Venezuelan oil tankers, threatened military action against Maduro&#8217;s regime, and ultimately carried out the operation that removed him from power.
Promising a swift response to the disaster, Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://share.america.gov/expert-search-and-rescue-teams-save-lives-in-venezuela/">told</a> reporters, &#8220;It&#8217;ll be big; it&#8217;ll be fast; and it&#8217;ll be effective.&#8221;
The State Department announced Monday that the administration increased its commitment to more than $300 million after U.S. personnel on the ground identified urgent humanitarian needs. The funding includes $200 million for aid organizations and another roughly $100 million dedicated to specialized American logistics, military support, search-and-rescue operations, and emergency supplies. 
Officials emphasized that the money is flowing through established humanitarian partners rather than directly through the Venezuelan government. Organizations receiving support include Samaritan&#8217;s Purse, Catholic Relief Services, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, Project Hope, the International Organization for Migration, International Medical Corps, and the Red Cross. 
The United States has deployed four elite urban search-and-rescue teams from Fairfax County, Los Angeles County, Miami-Dade County, and the City of Miami, totaling more than 300 first responders and 23 search dogs. The teams are conducting round-the-clock operations in some of the hardest-hit areas to locate survivors, provide medical care, and conduct structural assessments, according to the State Department.
The U.S. military has played a significant role in the relief effort. American airmen rapidly repaired and reopened Simón Bolívar International Airport near Caracas. A specialized Air Force team now coordinates tower and ground operations to keep humanitarian flights moving and supplies flowing to disaster zones. 
Offshore, the U.S. Navy transport dock ship, USS Fort Lauderdale, is supporting aid deliveries near La Guaira, where U.S. sailors and Marines are ferrying supplies to devastated coastal communities. American naval personnel are also working alongside Venezuelan authorities to repair and reopen the earthquake-damaged Port of La Guaira, a critical hub for incoming aid.
Assistant Secretary for Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs Caleb Orr is scheduled to travel to Venezuela from July 1 through July 3 amid the relief operations. 
Just six months ago, the two countries appeared headed toward a direct confrontation. Today, American troops and Venezuelan officials are working together to deliver aid.
What began as a maximum-pressure campaign early in Trump&#8217;s second term escalated into the seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers and culminated in a lightning-fast 88-minute U.S. special operations raid that captured Maduro in January. 
According to American officials, the mission was among the most complex military operations in recent years. Venezuelans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ive-never-seen-anything-like-it-maduros-security-guard-lays-out-what-its-like-facing-u-s-military">who witnessed</a> the assault described a force so overwhelming that Maduro&#8217;s security apparatus never stood a chance, with some claiming American commandos slipped in undetected, overwhelmed hundreds of security guards, and employed sonic weapon technology they had never seen before.
The raid culminated in an unforgettable scene: Maduro, once one of Washington&#8217;s most defiant adversaries, being escorted in New York City by American law enforcement. The scene went viral, turning the longtime bully into a humiliating symbol of his era’s collapse.
After Maduro&#8217;s capture, Trump signaled an expansive American role in Venezuela&#8217;s recovery.
“We&#8217;re going to run it, fix it,” Trump said at the time. “It&#8217;s a broken country.”
But the Trump administration ultimately established a working relationship with President Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro&#8217;s former vice president who assumed power after his removal.
Despite international backlash and accusations that the operation violated Venezuela&#8217;s sovereignty, Washington moved to stabilize the country and revive its economy. Relations between the two nations improved rapidly.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spearheaded the administration&#8217;s diplomatic outreach, seeking not only to stabilize Venezuela politically but also to rebuild relations between the two countries. At the same time, the administration encouraged American companies to invest in reviving Venezuela&#8217;s battered economy and oil industry.
In recent months, the administration has eased sanctions, restored direct commercial flights between the two countries for the first time in seven years, and backed economic reforms designed to attract foreign investment. Senior U.S. officials, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright, have traveled to Venezuela.
<a href="https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/crude-oil/061026-trump-official-says-venezuela-oil-recovery-on-track-after-maduro-ouster#:~:text=Venezuelan%20state%20oil%20company%20PDVSA,from%20the%20Ministry%20of%20Hydrocarbons.">According to S&amp;P Global</a>, Venezuela increased oil output from about 940,000 barrels per day in January to more than 1.15 million barrels per day in May. Government officials expect production to keep growing and reach 1.37 million barrels per day by the end of 2026, bringing help to the South American country’s struggling economy.
Venezuela&#8217;s economy has shown signs of improvement in recent months. Inflation, which topped 600% in 2025, has fallen dramatically, with monthly inflation now below 10%, according to Orr.
The improved relationship has implications beyond humanitarian aid or economic partnerships. By drawing Venezuela closer to Washington, the administration has sought to diminish the influence of adversaries such as China, Russia, and Cuba, all of which expanded their foothold in the country during the Maduro years.
The shift has also been welcomed by many Venezuelan Americans, particularly in South Florida, where large diaspora communities have long advocated for Maduro&#8217;s removal and closer ties between the United States and a post-Maduro Venezuela.
Now, as Venezuela confronts one of the worst natural disasters in its recent history, the United States is playing a leading role in the international relief effort — a scene that would have been almost unimaginable just months ago.
Leona Salinas contributed to this report.

Search and rescue operations continue in earthquake-hit Venezuela

Earthquake Relief Marks Historic Shift In U.S. Relations With Venezuela

U.S. Earthquake Relief Marks Stunning Shift In Relations With Venezuela

Natural Disaster

Nicolas Maduro

The Ben Franklin Fellowship is not unlike hundreds of other organizations in Washington, D.C.
At its core, it&#8217;s a group of like-minded individuals involved in foreign policy in some capacity, united around the goal of bringing their vision to the federal agencies that oversee America&#8217;s relationships around the world, particularly the State Department. These kinds of groups, whether in the form of social clubs, think tanks, advocacy groups, or other organizations, exist for virtually every major government institution and policy area in America.
The BFF, however, has drawn outsized scrutiny. Media outlets like the New York Times, Politico, and Reuters have published critical reports on the group, chock-full of complaints from the Foreign Service establishment.
As far as I can tell, the underlying complaint about BFF is that it is conservative. The throughline of the criticism from the media and groups like the American Foreign Service Association seems to be that BFF wants to &#8220;Trumpify&#8221; the State Department by injecting it with loyalists to the president. Upon further investigation, I found little evidence that&#8217;s the case.
&#8220;We&#8217;re not about electing President Trump or any of the MAGA Republicans; that&#8217;s not what we&#8217;re doing. We&#8217;re about organizing the federal bureaucracy around a value set,&#8221; Phil Linderman, co-founder of the BFF, told me. &#8220;Change DEI. Change the way that USAID has done business for years and years. Change the concept that the Foreign Service has a value set separate from whatever the President wants. We try to change that, then they denounce us as being partisan.&#8221;
Linderman is a retired foreign service officer who served in the State Department for three decades. He explained to me how, a few years ago, he and some like-minded veterans of the foreign service space decided they needed a formal group to organize around the principles they believe in, which run counter to the establishment assumptions of most career bureaucrats.
&#8220;There is a school of thought which is made by the left, the organizations like the American Foreign Service Association, that you have one non-partisan professional who runs the embassy as the ambassador or whatever, and that&#8217;s the guy you go to, and that&#8217;s what we&#8217;ve always done in America in the State Department,&#8221; Linderman explained. &#8220;And if these conservatives come along, they&#8217;re just taking us back to Tammany Hall and politization of the career ranks. That is a very unrealistic framework for how these institutions work.&#8221;
&#8220;What happens is because there&#8217;s a liberal-left quiet orthodoxy that dominates in the Foreign Service and the Civil Service in the State Department — and across the government, really — these people that rise to the highest ranks in the career organization are usually liberal-left, and they will say to a Republican conservative president, &#8216;I&#8217;ll do your bidding,&#8217; etc. And for the most part, conservatives have to live with that because they have no other choice.&#8221;
He also said there wasn&#8217;t some grand conspiracy between his team and the Trump administration to staff up departments with loyalists. Yes, some BFF members have ended up in the administration, but that came about by a normal process of networking and lobbying, not via some sinister MAGA plot hatched years ago.
The Fellowship lists eight principles on its website, which include &#8220;The central purpose of U.S. diplomacy is to serve the national interest. We endorse the careful husbanding of limited resources, both budget and staff, rather than engaging in perpetual, unfunded expansion&#8221; and &#8220;We believe in strong, sovereign nations. To the extent that cooperation between nations in international fora contributes to the prosperity and security of participating states, and serves national interests, we endorse multinational organizations [sic].&#8221;
The principles generally align with what one might call an &#8220;America First&#8221; worldview, but they are vague enough to allow for big-tent coalition-building. Contrary to the claims of the critics, there&#8217;s nothing there about Donald Trump or MAGA, though I find it hard to imagine many of the group&#8217;s members (Linderman told me there are a few hundred members and around 100 fellows) aren&#8217;t supporters of the president.
But it seems like the group will outlast the Trump movement as well. Even if the 2028 Republican presidential nominee isn&#8217;t JD Vance, it&#8217;s hard to imagine the GOP going back to a classic neoconservative foreign policy. I believe that&#8217;s why the slings and arrows have come out for the BFF; it&#8217;s establishing the proverbial beachhead for the Right in a place they haven&#8217;t done so before, and the establishment feels threatened.
&#8220;The biggest advantage to me is being able to get to know other similarly minded individuals within the foreign affairs community,&#8221; Marcus Thornton, a politically-connected Foreign Service Officer and BFF fellow, told me. &#8220;The foreign affairs community is already so skewed ideologically that it&#8217;s hard to find people who differ from that worldview.&#8221;
&#8220;The Ben Franklin Fellowship has given us an opportunity to get to know others who may be more willing to challenge that worldview, and to be bold about ensuring that American values have a voice when it comes to foreign affairs.&#8221;
That community building is what threatens the old guard. Conservatives have made a critical error in how they talk about the federal bureaucracy. By demonizing all bureaucrats and pushing young talent toward other career paths, the right doesn&#8217;t have the personnel on hand to properly staff up federal agencies when the winds of change sweep them into power. That&#8217;s the problem that groups like BFF are uniquely suited to solve.
Thornton is unique in his willingness to speak openly and frankly about his time in the Fellowship. There are blogs dedicated to doxxing the members of the group in addition to the legacy media attacks on them. Linderman told me that run-of-the-mill members often prefer to remain anonymous for fear of professional retribution within the State Department.
I did push back on Linderman about some of the group&#8217;s higher-profile names, who don&#8217;t have much of a track record in foreign policy and, in some cases, appear to be just Trump loyalists who ended up at State by happenstance.
Linderman acknowledged that part of the battle in building a new organization like this is balancing between making a name for yourself and sticking strictly to the mission. But he argued that the core goal of the Fellowship is still to bring together like-minded foreign policy professionals and develop new ones, not to serve as a holding ground for political operatives.
In that, I wish them the best. Right-wing institution-building has been a major casualty of the Trump era, and it&#8217;s about time we got back into the business of training good bureaucrats to serve as a counterweight to the bad ones.

Benjamin Franklin

The Conservative Group Trying To Remake The Deep State One Bureaucrat At A Time

Donald Trump

Foreign Service

A Trump-backed candidate appears set to take the reins in Colombia after the country was governed for four years by a far-Left president. 
Right-wing lawyer Abelardo De la Espriella defeated leftist Senator Iván Cepeda, according to initial results. The Trump administration congratulated De la Espriella Sunday night after he took 49.7% of the vote to his opponent’s 48.7%. 
“National dignity has triumphed, hope has triumphed. Today is a wonderful night in which democracy shone and Colombia demonstrated its greatness. This is the night in which we mark a new order: the Homeland Miracle,” De la Espriella said on X. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Ha triunfado la dignidad nacional, ha triunfado la esperanza.
Hoy es una noche maravillosa en que brilló la democracia y Colombia demostró su grandeza.
Esta es la noche en la que marcamos un nuevo orden: la Patria Milagro.
Firme por la Patria. 🫡 
(A.D.L.E) 🇨🇴🐅 <a href="https://t.co/aaaWi0ZM8p">pic.twitter.com/aaaWi0ZM8p</a>
— Abelardo De La Espriella (@ABDELAESPRIELLA) <a href="https://x.com/ABDELAESPRIELLA/status/2068897625940562129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
While De la Espriella declared victory, leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro <a href="https://x.com/petrogustavo/status/2068831260982571151">claimed</a> no one could yet be declared victor until the election was certified by judges. He alleged that voting machines had been compromised by Israel. 
Petro said that “software was compromised and others wrote data for polling stations and voting posts” and that the “only entity in the world capable of doing that is the state of Israel.”
President Donald Trump, who endorsed De la Espriella earlier this month, <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116791057884875243">said</a> in a Truth Social post that “he won, BIG.” 
Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/2068851809440116849">said</a> that he looked forward to working with De la Espriella. 
“The Trump Administration looks forward to working closely with your incoming administration to advance regional security cooperation, end illegal immigration to the United States, and strengthen our economic ties,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a social media post. “Colombia&#8217;s best days are ahead.”
Commenting on Rubio’s post, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said that the Trump administration’s anti-drug trafficking efforts in partnership with Latin American leaders <a href="https://x.com/StephenM/status/2068872925118169460">would</a> “change the entire future of the Western Hemisphere.”
In his endorsement, Trump said that De la Espriella would crack down on crime, illegal immigration, and drug trafficking. De la Espriella ran on a law-and-order platform involving taking a firm approach to rebel groups that have plagued the country for years. 
“The results of this election are very important to the future of Colombia and its relationship with the United States,” Trump said in his endorsement. “Because of his tremendous accomplishments in life, and his political support for me personally, it is my honor to give Abelardo my complete and total endorsement.”
A wave of Right-wing leaders has been elected in Latin America in recent months including in Honduras, Costa Rica, Chile, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

TOPSHOT-COLOMBIA-ELECTION-RUNOFF-VOTE

Another Trump-Backed Candidate Declares Victory Over The Left In Latin America

Colombia

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA — Bishop Michael Burbidge is aware that a good percentage of the 432,700 Catholics in his flock are politically important.
“One of the first shocks I experienced when I became the Bishop of Arlington was being in this office and looking out and seeing the Capitol and the Washington Monument from my window,” Burbidge told The Daily Wire in a recent interview. “There are some heavy hitters here who are influencing our country&#8217;s politics.”
For about two years, those heavy hitters included Vice President JD Vance, who, as a first-term senator from Ohio, settled his family in Northern Virginia. Vance’s Catholicism has been a central part of his identity since his <a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/j-d-vance-becomes-catholic/">2019 baptism</a> — back when he was still just “the author of ‘Hillbilly Elegy’” and a promising young man.
Vance, who tells the story of his faith journey in a forthcoming book, <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/communion-j-d-vance?variant=45116963192866">“Communion,”</a> may have broken the land speed record for transition from catechumen to prominent Catholic. By the time Donald Trump asked him to join the presidential ticket, he was one of the most well-known American Catholics, second only to the man he and Trump were running to succeed.
Once in office, Vance became the locus for Catholic critiques of the Trump administration’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pope-leo-addresses-narrative-suggesting-he-and-trump-are-at-war">foreign policy</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hours-before-zelensky-meeting-vance-praises-trump-for-pursuing-a-path-of-peace">immigration crackdown</a> — which earned the White House rebukes from Pope Francis and now Pope Leo XIV, whose elevation to the Throne of St. Peter moved Vance a few notches down the list of prominent American Catholics.
Burbidge knows all of this. He’s met Vance, he says, but hasn&#8217;t had a formal meeting with him since he became vice president. And Burbidge realizes the vice president has a particular challenge before him, not just as a Catholic leader, but one with a countryman in Rome. But the bishop — who <a href="https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/2025/01/31/a-pastoral-statement-on-the-catholic-imperative-of-upholding-human-dignity-and-the-common-good-in-american-immigration-law/">encouraged</a> Trump and Vance in January 2025 to “develop a national immigration policy that reflects the Catholic commitment to human dignity and the common good” — stressed that Vance has all the tools he needs to navigate choppy theological-political waters.
“We have a mandate to be not only citizens, but to be faithful citizens,” Burbidge says. “You can&#8217;t separate what you know to be true and what you profess to believe into your life as a politician. And will you have to pay a price for that sometimes? Of course you will. Will you maybe be rejected by others? Of course you will. But there&#8217;s no other path.”
“This is what&#8217;s so great about being Catholic,” the bishop adds. “There&#8217;s a consistency of the gospel of life and the truth.”
“Now, does this become more challenging for a politician? I&#8217;m sure it does. But you can&#8217;t be one person here and another person here.”
A Philadelphia native ordained in 1984, Burbidge began his episcopal journey as the auxiliary bishop of his hometown in 2002. Named bishop of Raleigh in 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI, he held that post for a decade before Pope Francis named him the fourth bishop of Arlington. It’s a role to which Burbidge — a polished speaker unafraid to preach the “gospel of life” to all manner of politicians — seems uniquely suited.
“It really doesn&#8217;t matter who&#8217;s in office,” Burbidge says when asked how he’s navigated the transition from President Joe Biden, a Catholic who flouted the Church’s teaching on abortion, to Trump and Vance, whose paeans to the faith have not kept them out of the fray.
“It&#8217;s always going to be a challenge, because [the Catholic Church is] so beautiful, the way we teach the gospel of life. It confuses people that we can be on this side or that side, but the truth of the gospel, what we&#8217;re teaching doesn&#8217;t change because of who&#8217;s in office.”
The bishop certainly practices what he’s preaching here. Burbidge issued his statement on immigration less than two weeks after Inauguration Day, reminding the Trump team of the Church’s stance before it had finished unpacking.
Burbidge had plenty of practice dealing with politicians by this point. From 2022 to 2024, he chaired the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Pro-Life Activities Committee. In that role, he <a href="https://catholicvote.org/bishop-of-arlington-calls-president-biden-to-repent/">chastised Biden</a> for “causing great scandal when he announces both his faith and his pro-abortion position publicly,” calling on the president to “repent.”
Still, Burbidge goes out of his way to stress that his role is no different than that of other bishops. He does not tell his priests to preach to the powerful in the pews and thinks there “should be no effort at all” for priests to do that.
For all that’s happening in the American church, Burbidge is most excited about the things that get bishops excited: seven ordinations this year and 12 in 2025; 39 active seminarians; mass attendance rebounding to pre-COVID numbers; 27 George Mason students brought into the church this Easter alone, the work of just one campus priest.
“We have so many young adults who are fully engaged in the life of the church,” Burbidge says. “We are very, very blessed with vocations … and we have so many beautiful holy families, holy marriages, from which vocations so often come.”
With a flourishing diocese and rising levels of religiosity among young Americans, Burbidge is optimistic about the future of the country and the church. And he sees even more reason for hope in Pope Leo, whom he praises for “the serenity and the simplicity and the joy” he has projected in his first year as pontiff.
“I think it was a blessing, a gift, that he knows the United States,” Burbidge says. “He&#8217;s lived here, he&#8217;s from here. He speaks the language. He gets us, and I think he understands us, in our politics and our culture and things like that.”
One might say it’s providential, the ascension of an American pope at the dawn of a very Catholic age in American politics. Abortion and immigration, the twin issues of our time, make it clear that Catholic social teaching does not cleave easily along party lines. And yet, the days of Catholics sidestepping politics seem to be over.
The Republican nominee for president in 2028 will almost certainly be Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio, both Catholics. And at least two Democratic frontrunners — California Governor Gavin Newsom and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — are proximately Catholic as well. Our nation’s next presidential election may not just be a referendum on competing political systems, but competing conceptions of Catholicism.
Regardless of whether that happens, American Catholics will certainly be glad to have one of their own leading the church in the coming years. But perhaps they’ll also look to a prelate just two years younger than Pope Leo, another son of a great American city whose ordination came almost two years to the day of the Holy Father’s.
“As a bishop, I have to have full responsibility for every soul entrusted to me,” Burbidge says. “And therefore, I have to speak truth and love, and love involves speaking the truth.”
“So, I think that if you&#8217;re a Catholic and you&#8217;re running for office, your bishop&#8217;s going to be talking to you.”

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