{"id":2556003,"date":"2026-01-28T19:47:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T00:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-is-not-a-game-show-marco-rubio-refuses-to-go-along-with-dem-senators-hearing-tactics-3\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T19:49:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T00:49:26","slug":"this-is-not-a-game-show-marco-rubio-refuses-to-go-along-with-dem-senators-hearing-tactics-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-is-not-a-game-show-marco-rubio-refuses-to-go-along-with-dem-senators-hearing-tactics-3\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;This Is Not a Game Show&#8217;: Marco Rubio Refuses to Go Along with Dem Senator&#8217;s Hearing Tactics"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/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%2Fthis-is-not-a-game-show-marco-rubio-refuses-to-go-along-with-dem-senators-hearing-tactics-3%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=2556003&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>At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Sen. Jacky Rosen pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a yes-or-no response on whether President Trump\u2019s pardon of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez undermines U.S. credibility after the governance captured Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. Hern\u00e1ndez, convicted in 2024 of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >helping traffic roughly 400 tons<\/a> of cocaine to the U.S. and sentenced to 45 years, was pardoned by Trump in November, a move linked to U.S. support for honduran political allies. Rubio declined to answer with a simple yes or no,saying he is not involved in the pardon process and criticizing the premise as a \u201cgame show\u201d approach. He argued Hern\u00e1ndez was not president at the time of the pardon and contrasted Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s alleged ongoing narco-trafficking with Maduro\u2019s broader role as a regional base for adversaries.In his opening remarks, Rubio defended the removal of Maduro as necessary to curb a regime that served as a foothold for Iran, Russia, and China in the Western Hemisphere, while acknowledging that transitioning Venezuela to stable democracy will be difficult and take time.  <\/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><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Secretary of State Marco Rubio was not having it when Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada tried to get him to answer with &ldquo;yes&rdquo; or &ldquo;no&rdquo; to her questions.<\/p>\n<p>During a Wednesday hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rosen wanted Rubio to concede that President Donald Trump&rsquo;s decision to apprehend Venezuelan President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/brave-us-military-operatives-captured-nicolas-maduro\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nicol&aacute;s Maduro<\/a> earlier this month to stand trial for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/father-of-saints-super-fan-sentenced-to-eight-years-in-prison-after-stealing-donations-from-sons-charity\/\" title=\"Father Of Saints Super Fan ...tenced To Eight Years In Prison After Stealing Donations From Son\u2019s Charity\">drug trafficking charges<\/a> was undermined by his recent pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hern&aacute;ndez.<\/p>\n<p>Hern&aacute;ndez was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/archives\/opa\/pr\/juan-orlando-hernandez-former-president-honduras-sentenced-45-years-prison-conspiring\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">convicted<\/a> in 2024 of aiding in the trafficking of over 400 tons of cocaine into the United States during his time in office. He was sentenced to 45 years in jail.<\/p>\n<p>Trump pardoned him in November, saying on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/sentdefender\/status\/1994520876264677772\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> that Hern&aacute;ndez had been &ldquo;treated harshly and unfairly.&rdquo; Trump connected the pardon to his desire to see Tito Ashfura become the next president of Honduras. Ashfura, in fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/12\/24\/trump-honduras-presidential-candidate-nasry-asfura-wins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">won the election<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n<p>First stating that she wanted a &ldquo;yes&rdquo; or &ldquo;no&rdquo; response to a series of questions, Rosen asked Rubio, &ldquo;Was Hern&aacute;ndez convicted of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-is-not-a-game-show-marco-rubio-refuses-to-go-along-with-dem-senators-hearing-tactics\/\" title=\"&#039;This Is Not a Game Show&#039;: Marco ... Refuses to Go Along with Dem ...ator&#039;s Hearing Tactics\">trafficking approximately 400 tons<\/a> of cocaine into the United States?&rdquo;<\/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;I&rsquo;m not involved in the pardon process. I can tell you&hellip;&rdquo; Rubio began to answer before Rosen cut him off.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No, but I&rsquo;m just asking&hellip;,&rdquo; the lawmaker said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/rubio-announced-major-shift-foreign-aid-strategy-ahead-venezuela-moves\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rubio<\/a> then shot back, &ldquo;Yeah, but I don&rsquo;t do yes or no. I don&rsquo;t play games. This is not a game show.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/md6Lo-3ZlzI?si=_5EtoL3PmrjHkC7i\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The president felt he was unfairly treated,&rdquo; Rubio added.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It undermines the United States&rsquo; credibility on the world stage,&rdquo; Rosen argued.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio pointed out that Hern&aacute;ndez was not the president of Honduras when Trump pardoned him.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The difference between him and Nicolas Maduro is that he was actively engaged in narco-trafficking. It was an ongoing endeavor,&rdquo; Rubio noted.<\/p>\n<p>However, Rosen reasserted, &ldquo;I think it does undermine our credibility.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/releases\/office-of-the-spokesperson\/2026\/01\/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-before-the-senate-committee-on-foreign-relations-on-u-s-policy-towards-venezuela\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">opening remarks<\/a> to the committee, Rubio defended the administration&rsquo;s decision to remove Maduro.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And let me just say this: What is our goal going in? We had, in our hemisphere, a regime operated by an indicted narcotrafficker that became a base of operation for virtually every competitor, adversary, and enemy in the world,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It was &mdash; for Iran, their primary spot of operation in the Western Hemisphere was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/venezuela-freedom-fighter-maria-machado-gave-trump-nobel-prize-medal-calling-heir-washington-force-freedom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Venezuela<\/a>. For Russia their primary base of operation in the Western Hemisphere, along Cuba and Nicaragua, was Venezuela. In the case of China, China was receiving oil at a huge &ndash; about $20 a barrel &ndash; discount, and they weren&rsquo;t even paying money for it. It was being used to pay down debt that they were owed,&rdquo; Rubio added.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And so you had basically three of our primary opponents in the world operating from our hemisphere from that spot,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hb4Q2Ap5QQM?si=pNNvpATJ3LzzOWsu\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He concluded by saying that transitioning the Venezuelan government to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-is-not-a-game-show-marco-rubio-refuses-to-go-along-with-dem-senators-hearing-tactics-2\/\" title=\"&#039;This Is Not a Game Show&#039;: Marco ... Refuses to Go Along with Dem ...ator&#039;s Hearing Tactics\">stable democracy &#038;ldquo<\/a>;won&rsquo;t be easy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I mean, look, at the end of the day we are dealing with people over there that have spent most of their lives living in a gangster paradise, so it&rsquo;s not going to be like from one day to the next we&rsquo;re going to have this thing turn around overnight. But I think we&rsquo;re making good and decent progress.&rdquo;<\/p>\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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Rosen\u2019s yes-or-no demand<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2556004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-01-28T182501.809.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[45406,72147,34360,45281,48508],"class_list":["post-2556003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-congressional-oversight","tag-democratic-tactics","tag-marco-rubio","tag-partisan-politics","tag-senate-hearing"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-01-28T182501.809.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2556003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2556003"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2556003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2556007,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2556003\/revisions\/2556007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2556004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2556003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2556003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2556003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}