Rubio Torches Democrats Who Say He’s ‘Winging It’ On Venezuela: ‘I Used To Be A Senator Too’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio jabbed at his former colleagues on Wednesday, saying that Senate Democrats were going to malign and second-guess President Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela no matter what.

Rubio, flanked by War Secretary Pete Hegseth, responded to a reporter who said that Democrats on Capitol Hill had said the Trump administration was “winging it” with regard to Saturday’s attack on Venezuela and the simultaneous arrest and extradition of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

WATCH:

???? REPORTER: Dems say you’re WINGING Venezuela, you have no plan!

SEC. MARCO RUBIO: “Yeah, I know. They’re gonna say that. I used to be a senator too! That’s what you ALWAYS say!” ????

“It’s not just speculating what’s gonna happen – IT’S ALREADY HAPPENING.” ????

WE LOVE MARCO pic.twitter.com/dFiT7QF9ZK

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 7, 2026

Hegseth appeared to have a good idea of what was coming, and could be seen ducking his head slightly and smiling in the background as the reporter asked the question.

“Yeah, I know. They’re gonna say that. I used to be a senator too! That’s what you always say when it’s the other party,” Rubio explained — and then said that the same people accusing him of “winging it” had actually been filled in on exactly what was happening.

“The bottom line is we’ve gone into great detail with them about the planning, we’ve described it to them, in fact, it’s not just winging it. It’s not just saying or speculating what’s gonna happen, it’s already happening. Like the oil arrangement that we’ve made with PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela, SA) on their sanctioned oil that they can’t move — understand, they are not generating any revenue from their oil right now. They can’t move it unless we allow it to move because we have sanctions, because we’re enforcing those sanctions.”

“This is tremendous leverage,” Rubio continued, saying that the way things were playing out would ultimately benefit everyone involved, including both the Venezuelan people and any American interests.