{"id":2530239,"date":"2026-01-05T20:10:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T01:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/youre-confused-rubio-slaps-down-margaret-brennans-absurd-venezuela-question\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T20:14:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T01:14:29","slug":"youre-confused-rubio-slaps-down-margaret-brennans-absurd-venezuela-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/youre-confused-rubio-slaps-down-margaret-brennans-absurd-venezuela-question\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;You&#8217;re Confused?&#8217;: Rubio Slaps Down Margaret Brennan&#8217;s &#8216;Absurd&#8217; Venezuela Question"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fyoure-confused-rubio-slaps-down-margaret-brennans-absurd-venezuela-question%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2530239&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Sen. Marco rubio sparred with &#8220;Face the Nation&#8221; host Margaret Brennan after President Trump announced U.S. forces, including Delta Force, protected an operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas. Trump said the U.S. was &#8220;running&#8221; Venezuela and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >named senior officials<\/a> who would be in charge. brennan questioned why only Maduro and his wife were arrested when other Venezuelan officials are also indicted; rubio defended the decision, calling Maduro the top priority, describing the raid as a highly complex, high-risk helicopter landing on a military base, and arguing it would have been impractical and dangerous to try to capture multiple targets together. Trump and Rubio emphasized the mission&#8217;s success and that American forces suffered no losses, while reiterating that Maduro is an indicted drug trafficker not widely recognized as Venezuela&#8217;s legitimate president.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed Sunday with &ldquo;Face the Nation&rdquo; host Margaret Brennan after she questioned why the United States didn&rsquo;t arrest other indicted members of the Venezuelan government.<\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump announced in a  <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/115830428767897167\">post<\/a> that American military forces, including the Army&rsquo;s elite Delta Force, protected a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/150-missing-children-found-in-tennessee-as-part-of-operation-volunteer-strong\/\" title=\"150 Missing Children Found In Tennessee As Part Of \u2018Operation Volunteer Strong\u2019\">law enforcement operation<\/a> which arrested Venezuelan President Nicol&aacute;s Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas early Saturday morning. Brennan expressed confusion about why only Maduro and his wife had been arrested, prompting Rubio to react.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re confused? You don&rsquo;t know why that is confusing?&rdquo; Rubio asked, before Brennan responded, &ldquo;They&rsquo;re still in power.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2026\/01\/03\/trump-us-run-venezuela-nicolas-maduro-press-conference\/\">declared<\/a> during a Saturday news conference on the operation which captured Maduro that the United States was &ldquo;running&rdquo; Venezuela. He then mentioned senior administration officials, including Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, would be in charge.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re going to go in and suck up five people? They are already complaining about the one operation. Imagine the howls we would have from everybody else if we had to go and stay there for four days to capture four other people. We got the top priority,&rdquo; Rubio said.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The number one person on the list was the guy who claimed to be the president of the country that he was not, and he was arrested along with his wife who is also indicted and that was a sophisticated and, frankly, complicated operation,&rdquo; Rubio continued. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not easy to land helicopters in the middle of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/overdoses-now-a-leading-cause-of-death-for-fort-bragg-soldiers\/\" title=\"Overdoses Now a Leading Cause of Death for Fort Bragg Soldiers\">largest military base<\/a> in the country. He lived on a military base. Land in three minutes, kick down his door, arrest him, and read him his rights and leave without losing any American assets. You&rsquo;re asking why didn&rsquo;t we do that in five other places at the same time? That&rsquo;s absurd!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump noted American forces suffered no losses in the operation during both the news conference and in his  post announcing Maduro&rsquo;s capture.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I do think it&rsquo;s one of the most, you know, daring, you know, complicated, sophisticated missions the country has carried out in a very long time. Tremendous credit to the U.S. military personnel who did it, it was unbelievable and a tremendous success,&rdquo; Rubio said. &ldquo;And today an indicted drug trafficker &mdash; not the legitimate president of Venezuela, who we don&rsquo;t recognize, the Biden administration did not recognize, 60-something <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-considers-democratic-priorities-with-revelatory-plans-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"... considers Democratic priorities with revelatory plans - Washington Examiner\">countries don&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t recognize, the European Union doesn&rsquo;t recognize, and many countries in Latin America don&rsquo;t recognize &mdash; he&rsquo;s an indicted&ndash; a drug trafficker. He was arrested, his wife was arrested&ndash;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The others also indicted are still&ndash; the others who were also indicted are still in place, so that is the point of my questioning there. You talked about not being the legitimate president&ndash;,&rdquo; Brennan started, before Rubio bluntly concluded, &ldquo;You wanted us to land in five other military bases!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p><em>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter&rsquo;s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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