Marco Rubio inflames bitter infighting among 'angry MAGA elites'

During his second presidency, Donald Trump has taken a much more hawkish and interventionist turn than he favored in the past — from the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to military strikes against Iran first reported early Saturday morning, February 28. The Middle Eastern conflict has escalated well beyond Iran and the United States, with the Iranian military launching strikes against U.S. installations in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Middle Eastern countries.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a traditional conservative in an administration dominated by MAGA Republicans, has become of the face of Trump's aggressive foreign policy. And according to Axios reporters Marc Caputo, Barak Ravid and Alex Isenstadt, Rubio's comments on the conflict underscore the divisions among Trump supporters where Israel is concerned.

On Monday, March 2, Rubio told reporters, "We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action (against Iran)…. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces (by the Iranian regime). And we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.... And then, we would all be here answering questions about why we knew that and didn't act…. Obviously, we were aware of Israeli intentions and understood what that would mean for us, and we had to be prepared to act as a result of it. But this had to happen no matter what."

Those comments, the Axios reporters note, "were the first time a Trump official had so explicitly acknowledged Israel as a driving force behind the war — landing at a moment when Americans' public support for Israel has hit historic lows."

According to Caputo, Ravid and Isenstadt, "Rubio's remarks were widely interpreted as making the U.S. look subordinate to Israel's interests. And they inflamed already-angry MAGA elites who had spent the day railing against President Trump's decision to go to war. On their podcasts and social media, frustrated pro-Trump influencers argued the president had become beholden to the military hawks and neocons he explicitly ran against. Anti-Israel voices on the right — as well as openly antisemitic influencers who've clawed toward the mainstream in recent years — claimed vindication."

On his "War Room" vodcast, MAGA Republican Steve Bannon commented, "If we knew Israel would strike and Iran would retaliate against us, where was the coordination? We need a strategic explanation."

On her SiriusXM show, former Fox News host Megyn Kelly said of the Iran conflict, "I've got serious doubts about what we are doing."

But far-right MAGA conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer — a self-described "proud Islamophobe" — is praising Trump's Iran policy.

On X, Loomer tweeted, "Just spoke to President Trump and congratulated him on another successful combat mission eradicating one of the world’s most evil Islamic terrorists! I told President Trump he has made the United States proud as the 47th President ending 47 years of Iranian terror and freeing the Iranian people from 47 years of Islamic oppression. I also told him everyone who loves America and hates terrorism is cheering for him and celebrating today, with the exception of the Woke Reich, Tucker Qatarlson, Thomas Massie, Marjorie Traitor Greene and the communist Democrats. We should all be cheering for America and President Trump today and everyday! He's a hero, and he makes our country proud."