Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan she should “watch the news” after she asked him whether there was “any evidence” supporting the U.S. State Department’s justification for revoking the visa of a Columbia student who helped organize protests against Israel that, Homeland Security said, “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”

Rubio appeared on the most recent Face the Nation on CBS Sunday to discuss several topics, including Russia, the war in Ukraine, Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, and the ICE raid and detainment of Columbia grad student Mahmoud Khalil, ultimately leading to his visa being revoked.

“Can you substantiate any form of material support for terrorism, specifically to Hamas, from this Columbia student? Or was it simply that he was espousing a controversial political point of view?” Brennan asked.

“Well, not just the student. We’re going to do more. In fact, every day now we’re approving visa revocations, and if that visa led to a green card, the green card process as well,” Rubio answered.

He said the reason is “very simple.”

“When you apply to enter the United States and you get a visa, you are a guest,” he said. “And in it, you have to make certain assertions. And if you tell us, when you apply for a visa, I’m coming to the U.S. to participate in pro-Hamas events, that runs counter to the foreign policy interest of the United States of America. It’s that simple.”

Rubio said several times that if someone said they were coming here to engage in these activities, they wouldn’t get the visa in the first place. He added that once someone has come here, done those things, they lied on the application.

“So, you lied to us. You’re out. It’s that simple. It’s that straightforward,” he said.

That’s when Brennan asked, “But is there any evidence of a link to terrorism, or is it just his point of view?”

Rubio snippily responded, “Yeah, they take over, I mean – do you not, I mean, you should watch the news. These guys take over entire buildings. They vandalize colleges. They shut down colleges.”

“We covered it intensely,” Brennan objected.

“Well then you should know,” Rubio shot back.

“I’m asking about the specific justification for the revocation of his visa — was there any evidence of material support for terrorism?” she asked, referring to the government’s statements that Khalil’s involvement with the violent protests against Israel, which shut down the university, was the basis for revoking his student visa.

“Well, this specific person was the spokesperson, was the negotiator,” he replied. “Negotiating on behalf of people that took over a campus? That vandalized buildings? Negotiating over what? That’s a crime in and of itself, that they’re involved in, being the negotiator, the spokesperson.”

He again repeated that if Khalil “had told us, I’m going over there and I’m going over there to become the spokesperson and one of the leaders of a movement that’s going to turn one of your allegedly elite colleges upside down, people can’t even go to school, the library, buildings being vandalized — We never would have let him in! We never would have let him in to begin with.”

Rubio then accused those defending Khalil’s freedom of speech, which includes most of the media, of being hypocrites, and argued that point with Brennan before they ran out of time.

BRENNAN: I want to ask you about a decision you made to revoke a student visa for someone at Columbia University this past week.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes, “The administration needs to be careful. It’s targeting real promoters of terrorism, not breaking the great promise of a green card by deporting anyone with controversial political views.”

Can you substantiate any form of material support for terrorism, specifically to Hamas, from this Columbia student. Or was it simply that he was espousing a controversial political point of view?

RUBIO: Well, not just the student. We’re going to do more. In fact, every day now we’re approving visa revocations, and if that visa led to a green card, the green card process as well. And here’s why. It’s very simple.

When you apply to enter the United States and you get a visa, you are a guest, and you’re coming as a student, you’re coming as a tourist, or what have you. And in it, you have to make certain assertions. And if you tell us, when you apply for a visa, I’m coming to the U.S. to participate in pro-Hamas events, that runs counter to the foreign policy interest of the United States of America. It’s that simple.

So, you lied. If you had told us that you were going to do that, we never would have given you the visa. Now, you’re here. Now, you do it. So, you lied to us. You’re out. It’s that simple. It’s that straightforward.

BRENNAN: But is there any evidence of a link to terrorism, or is it just his point of view?

RUBIO: Yeah, they take over, I mean, do you not, I mean, you should watch the news. These guys take over entire buildings. They vandalize colleges. They shut down colleges.

BRENNAN: We covered it intensely.

RUBIO: Well then you should know.

BRENNAN: I’m asking about the specific justification for the revocation of his visa — was there any evidence of material support for terrorism?

RUBIO: Well, this specific person was the spokesperson, was the negotiator. Negotiating on behalf of people that took over a campus? That vandalized buildings? Negotiating over what? That’s a crime in and of itself, that they’re involved in, being the negotiator, the spokesperson, this, that, the other.

We wouldn’t, we don’t need these people in our country that — we never should have allowed them in in the first place. If he had told us, I’m going over there and I’m going over there to become the spokesperson and one of the leaders of a movement that’s going to turn one of your allegedly elite colleges upside down, people can’t even go to school, the library, buildings being vandalized — We never would have let him in! We never would have let him in to begin with.

And now that he’s doing it and he’s here He’s going to leave and so are others and we’re gonna keep doing it. We are – and by the way I find it ironic that a lot of these people out there defending the First Amendment speech, alleged free speech rights of these Hamas-sympathizers?

BRENNAN: Yes?

RUBIO: They had no problem, okay, pressuring social media to censor American political speech. So it I think it’s ironic and hypocritical But the bottom line is this: if you are in this country to promote Hamas, to promote terrorist organizations, to participate in vandalism, to participate in acts of rebellion and riots on campus, we never would have let you in if we had known that. And now that we know it, you’re going to leave.

BRENNAN: Is it only pro-Palestinian people who are going to have their visas revoked or are other points of view as well?

RUBIO: No, I think anybody who’s here in favor. Look, we want to get rid of Tren de Aragua gang members. They’re terrorists, too. The president designated them, asked me to designate them, and I did, as a terrorist organization. We want to get rid of them as well.

We don’t want terrorists in America. I don’t know how hard that is to understand. We don’t want people in our country that are gonna be committing crimes and undermining our national security or the public safety. It’s that simple.

Especially people that are here as guests. That is what a visa is. I don’t know where we’ve gotten it in our head that a visa is some sort of birthright. It is not. It is a visitor into our country and if you violate the terms of your visitation, you are going to leave.

BRENNAN: OK, Secretary Rubio, like to have you back, talk you about a lot more on your plate another time, but we have to leave it there.

RUBIO: Thank you.

Watch the clip above via Face the Nation from CBS News.

The post ‘You Should Watch the News!’ Marco Rubio Snaps at CBS’s Brennan Asking For ‘Justification’ of Student Protester’s Visa Being Revoked first appeared on Mediaite.

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