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It wasn’t that long ago that Marco Rubio stood on a debate stage and warned the country — in plain, clear terms — that Donald Trump was a “con man.”

Rubio rightly said that Trump was unfit for the presidency, that he’d shatter our institutions. He insisted that nominating him would be the end of the Republican Party as we knew it.

Rubio was right, of course. And now he is actively making all of his dire warnings come true — from the inside.

As Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio is not the principled “adult in the room” that pundits and even some Democratic lawmakers once naively imagined. He has become a hollowed-out husk of a man executing some of the ugliest policies in this administration.

From defending wrongful deportations to revoking visas for students who write op-eds, Rubio is now one of the top architects of Trump’s disgusting war on immigrants and the American dream.

From Calling Trump a Con Man to Serving as His Henchman

Let’s rewind. In 2016, Rubio wasn’t just skeptical of Trump — he torched him.

“We’re about to turn over the conservative movement to a con artist,” he warned voters. “He’s wholly unprepared to be president.”

He accused Trump of being a “lunatic,” a “pathological liar” and “the most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency.” He even hinted that Trump had a small penis.

Once again, Rubio was right. He also proved that there was, indeed, a time when he had the ability to tell the truth — even about Donald Trump.

Then he got steamrolled in the primary and slithered back to the Senate. Thus began Marco’s full-blown MAGA metamorphosis — from critic to sycophant.

Behind Lifeless Eyes, a MAGA True Believer

Fast forward to 2025. Rubio now chants Trump’s talking points with the same dead-eyed devotion as the rest of the MAGA cult. He has become one of the most effective communicators for this regime.

Beyond his ability to push MAGA propaganda, Rubio oversees foreign policy like it’s a Fox News segment — all outrage, no nuance — while treating migrant families like disposable props in a MAGA sideshow.

Through it all, Rubio smiles that empty smile, pretending this is what leadership looks like. But this isn’t leadership. It’s cowardice dressed in a suit and flag pin.

And Rubio didn’t just sacrifice his spine and fall in line. He volunteered to be one of Trump’s top henchmen — in many ways, the face of this anti-American administration — when deep down he has shown the country that he knows better.

In some ways, isn’t that worse than just being a Tommy Tuberville or Marjorie Taylor Greene — MAGA Neanderthals who simply don’t know any better?

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What Will They Tell Their Children?

What do people like Marco Rubio tell their kids — or their future grandkids — about the role they played in this moment? How do they explain the lying, the cruel ICE raids, the absolute lack of humanity?

Do they lie? Do they pretend they were just following orders? How do they sit at the dinner table, look their families in the eye and justify tearing other families apart?

The truth is, they won’t have an answer. Because deep down, people like Rubio know exactly what they’ve become.

For Marco, this isn’t about lifting up the American people or serving the public in some noble, West Wing-style way. It’s about post-Trump positioning.

Rubio is betting that if he stays close enough, obedient enough, cruel enough, he’ll get his turn once Mar-a-Lago Don exits the stage.

But at the end of the day, I think Marco Rubio has made a severe miscalculation. He’ll learn that tossing his soul overboard for a seat next to the MAGA mob boss bought him nothing.

Because Trump’s base doesn’t want bootlickers in loafers. They want bomb-throwers, bloodsport and batshit conspiracies. They know Marco’s just a poser in a red tie. No amount of ass-kissing will win him the MAGA crown.

But it has already cost him his humanity.

Ultimately, Marco Rubio was right about Trump. He just decided power was worth more than principles. And now, the guy who once begged America not to elect a con man is helping that same con man run the country like a third-rate dictatorship.

Turns out, “Little Marco” was the most honest nickname of all.

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