The Statesman and the Sorority Girl

The reviews are in… and the critics are absolutely raving about his performance on one of the world’s biggest stages.

To whom am I referring? A Broadway actor or a Hollywood icon? How about a recording artist or a concert pianist?

No, today’s celebrity – who is being universally praised throughout Europe and the Americas – is none other than Marco Rubio, the 72nd Secretary of State of the United States.

Last week, Sec. Rubio delivered a tour-de-force performance at the Munich Security Conference, expertly blending the sharp-edged Trump foreign policy with a nuanced olive branch that European leaders were only too eager to grasp. The response to his 30-minute balancing act was a thunderous standing ovation that was in stark contrast to the cool reception offered Vice President JD Vance at last year’s conference in which he blasted European leaders for their lax immigration policies.

Vance was forced to admit that Rubio’s speech was “great” and “very, very ably delivered.” That’s very high praise indeed, especially coming from your potential rival for the 2028 GOP presidential nomination.

Even The Hill, a liberal political news outlet, couldn’t contain itself, referring to Rubio’s speech as his “Munich moment” before adding that it provided him with “fresh momentum”.

Conservatives were even more ebullient.

“Marco continues to enhance himself both in Trump World and internationally,” said Republican strategist Brian Seitchik, who called the speech “a win” for Rubio’s standing in the party as chatter builds about his future plans.

So, what was it about Rubio’s speech that so enthralled his audience? Well, here are a few choice excerpts…

“We gather here today as members of a historic alliance, an alliance that saved and changed the world,” he began his remarks. “When this conference began in 1963, it was in a nation – actually, it was on a continent – that was divided against itself. The line between communism and freedom ran through the heart of Germany. The first barbed fences of the Berlin Wall had gone up just two years prior.”

“But we were driven by a common purpose. We were unified not just by what we were fighting against; we were unified by what we were fighting for. And together, Europe and America prevailed and a continent was rebuilt. Our people prospered. In time, the East and West blocs were reunited. A civilization was once again made whole.”

“Under President Trump, the United States of America will once again take on the task of renewal and restoration, driven by a vision of a future as proud, as sovereign, and as vital as our civilization’s past. And while we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone, it is our preference and it is our hope to do this together with you, our friends here in Europe.”

“For the United States and Europe, we belong together. America was founded 250 years ago, but the roots began here on this continent long before. The man who settled and built the nation of my birth arrived on our shores carrying the memories and the traditions and the Christian faith of their ancestors as a sacred inheritance, an unbreakable link between the old world and the new.”

“We are part of one civilization – Western civilization. We are bound to one another by the deepest bonds that nations could share, forged by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry, and the sacrifices our forefathers made together for the common civilization to which we have fallen heir.”

“And so, this is why we Americans may sometimes come off as a little direct and urgent in our counsel,” he explained. “This is why President Trump demands seriousness and reciprocity from our friends here in Europe. The reason why, my friends, is because we care deeply. We care deeply about your future and ours. And if at times we disagree, our disagreements come from our profound sense of concern about a Europe with which we are connected – not just economically, not just militarily. We are connected spiritually and we are connected culturally. We want Europe to be strong. We believe that Europe must survive, because the two great wars of the last century serve for us as history’s constant reminder that ultimately, our destiny is and will always be intertwined with yours, because we know that the fate of Europe will never be irrelevant to our own.”

What you just read are excerpts from a master class in international diplomacy, delivered humbly yet unapologetically, powerfully and eloquently to a rapt audience that was sitting on the edge of their upholstered seats. What they heard was a vivid reminder of the shared history and heritage between America and Western Europe accompanied by a full-throated reassurance that the bonds that unite us are as strong as ever.

With that reminder and that reassurance still echoing in the conference chambers, Rubio – like a maestro conducting an orchestra – then gently but firmly scolded the Europeans… and they took the reprimand exceedingly well.

Now, contrast Sec. Rubio’s statesmanlike remarks with those offered by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who for whatever reason also attended the Munich Security Conference.

Apparently, AOC is considering running for either the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer in 2028 or – heaven help us – the Democratic nomination for president that same year. And so, she thought a trip across the pond to attend a conference with European leaders would help burnish her foreign policy credentials while introducing her on the world stage.

Unfortunately for AOC, her move backfired worse than a rusted-out muffler while falling flatter than the proverbial pancake. In fact, not since the introduction of the Ford Edsel and “New Coke” has a marketing plan been such an unmitigated disaster.

Faux pas #1 occurred when Ms. Ocasio-Cortez tried criticizing the Trump administration for capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

“Maduro canceled elections. He was an anti-democratic leader,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “That doesn’t mean that we can kidnap a head of state and engage in acts of war just because the nation is below the equator.”

Except, my dear, Venezuela is in the Northern Hemisphere, which means it is located above the equator.

Gaffe #2 happened when AOC was asked a question straight out of the Foreign Policy Handbook for Dummies, Grade School Edition.

“Would and should the U.S. actually commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan if China were to move?” she was asked at a Munich town hall meeting.

The question required a simple, straight-forward response and – for the sake of our geopolitical foes that were watching and listening – there was only one correct answer: a firm and unequivocal “Yes!” Instead, after a long and very awkward pause, the former bartender gave the following Valley Girl reply…

“"Um, you know, I think that this is such a, you know, I think that this is a um — this is, of course, a, um, very long-standing, um, policy of the United States, and I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point, and we want to make sure that we are moving in all of our economic research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise.”

Gobbledygook on steroids!

“It was a beauty pageant to show that she had some chops about international issues, and she showed a complete lack of chops about international issues,” New York Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf told The Hill.

Vice President Vance was even more direct in his critique. “Look, that was embarrassing,” Vance told Fox News host Martha MacCallum on “The Story.”

Even the left-leaning Washington Post ridiculed Ocasio-Cortez for her “strategic incomprehensibility,” claiming that she “fumbled” her chance to demonstrate her foreign policy credentials.

And yet, despite those embarrassing public miscues, AOC seemed intent on digging an even deeper hole. In response to yet another question at the town hall meeting, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez equated U.S. military and economic support of Israel with the funding of genocide in Gaza. That did not sit well with Tom Goss, an expert on international affairs, who told Fox News digital, "AOC has flown all the way to Munich — infamous as the city in which Hitler staged his Nazi Beer Hall Putsch that marked the beginning of the road to the Holocaust — in order to smear the Jewish people further with a phony genocide allegation.”

"Such preposterous allegations of ‘genocide’ form the bedrock of modern antisemitic incitement against Jews in the U.S. and globally,” Goss added. “This shocking ignorance and insensitivity by Ocasio-Cortez should rule her out of any potential presidential bid or other high office."

So, there you have it folks. One man who is primed and prepared to serve as President of the United States… and a not-ready-for-prime-time congresswoman from Queens who should probably go back to mixing drinks.