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Marco Rubio taking fire after war comment: ‘the worst possible thing he could have said’

March 3, 2026 | | Print Article

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s suggestion as to what may have forced America’s hand on striking Iran ignited a social media firestorm: “… basically the worst possible thing he could have said.”

(Video Credit: C-SPAN)

Monday in Washington, D.C., as the third day of military action against Iran’s Islamist regime was underway, coverage of President Donald Trump’s Operation Epic Fury firmly shifted to a focus on the political fallout. However, it wasn’t merely the Trump Deranged sounding off after Rubio addressed the media with details that Israel’s plan of attack had forced the United States to adopt the best defense via decisive offense.

Fielding questions for about 13 minutes, the secretary honed in on what he’d been asked most as he restated the purpose of the operation before addressing the temporal issue as to “Why now?”

Later readdressing the matter, Rubio said, “There absolutely was an imminent threat. And the imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked, and we believed they would be attacked, that they would immediately come after us, and we were not gonna sit there and absorb a blow before we responded.”

“Because the Department of War assessed that if we did that, if we waited for [Iran] to hit us first after they were attacked by someone else — Israel attacked them, they hit us first, and we waited for them to hit us, we would suffer more casualties and more deaths,” he continued. “We went proactively in a defensive way to prevent them from inflicting higher damage. Had we not done so, there would have been hearings on Capitol Hill about how we knew that this was gonna happen, and we didn’t act preemptively to prevent more casualties and more loss of life.”

When pressed as to whether Israel had forced the United States’ hand to launch Operation Epic Fury, Rubio defended that, based on Iran’s potential to “cross the line of immunity” with missile and drone capabilities, “This had to happen no matter what.”

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For some, like Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro (D), the secretary’s statement was a damning indictment against the Trump administration, allowing Israel to endanger Americans.

“Secretary Rubio’s remarks indicate that Israel put U.S. forces in harm’s way by insisting on attacking Iran. And the administration was complicit–joining their war instead of talking them down,” insisted the member of the House Intelligence Committee. “This is unacceptable of the President, and unacceptable of a country that calls itself our ally.”

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The criticism of the remarks from the cabinet official was not relegated to the typical partisan prattle, as some conservatives also expressed concerns about the admission. The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh posted, “So he’s flat out telling us that we’re in a war with Iran because Israel forced our hand. This is basically the worst possible thing he could have said.”

Others, however, remained more generous to Rubio, reminding that his explanation focused on the timing of the operation — the “Why now?” — and the inherent difference that the question had a simpler why.

“He’s explaining the TIMING for why the U.S. attacked, not why they attacked, as if they were ever considering not doing it,” said one X user. “If you look at the military build-up, an attack was basically inevitable.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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