WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned the world has a dangerous blind spot toward far-left extremism Thursday — citing the George Floyd riots and assassinations of Charlie Kirk and UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson.
“For far too long, our counterterrorism doctrine has had a blind spot when it comes to extremist violence from the political left,” Rubio said, arguing that the threat has been dismissed as “a right-wing fever dream.”
“Far-left political terrorism is not a recent day modern novelty. It is not a fiction manufactured by conservative politicians. For most of the modern era, it was in fact the dominant form of political violence,” he said as he kicked off his Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism at the State Department.
The fiery remarks came as Rubio convened officials from more than 60 countries to discuss what the Trump administration says is a growing global threat from far-left political violence. China and Cuba were not in attendance.
“Far-left political terrorism is not a recent-day modern novelty. It is not a fiction manufactured by conservative politicians,” Rubio said. “For most of the modern era, it was in fact the dominant form of political violence.”
He further said the countries must work together to confront political terrorism, as the ideology behind the attacks is not distinct to America.
“Today’s far-left terrorists can raise money in one country, they can host their communications in a second country, they can receive training in a third country, they can recruit militants in a fourth country, and then together strike a target in a fifth country,” he said.
“We have no choice but to confront this menace together. We will either cooperate across our borders, or the terrorists will continue to exploit the gaps between them,” he added.
Rubio also revealed that more designations are on the way after the State Department last year labeled four violent far-left groups as foreign terrorist organizations.
“There will be more designations soon,” he said, without providing further detail.
The secretary blasted US officials who he said failed to prosecute rioters during the racial unrest that swept the country in 2020 following the death of George Floyd in 2020.
“As criminals and extremists burned and looted their way through America’s great cities and nearly brought the country to its knees, city governments all across the country simply refused to prosecute the people conducting these acts of violence and terror,” he said.
Rubio pointed to the slayings of Kirk, Thompson and the multiple attempts on President Trump’s life — all of which were celebrated by the far-left — as examples of what he called the “distinctive and unique evil” of political extremism.
“It has always been driven by a hatred for civilization itself. It is a revolt of the worst against the best, a revolt of the weak and the cowardly against the strong and the good,” Rubio said. “… This is what radical leftism is.”
“It may wear various different slogans and ideologies across place and time. They can call themselves anti-capitalist or anti-imperialists or communists or anarchists or Marxist, but the fundamental character is always the same,” he added.
The conference was attended by political leaders, law enforcement officials and counterterrorism experts from 66 countries, featuring appearances by FBI Director Kash Patel, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
