Rubio fires back at 'confused' CBS host over questioning of Maduro operation's scope
Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed "confused" CBS host Margaret Brennan Sunday for questioning the scope of the operation that led to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro's capture.
"I'm curious because you just described the regime as still in place, essentially. I'm curious why the Trump administration decided to leave it intact and only arrest Nicolás Maduro and his wife," Brennan said Sunday on "Face the Nation."
After Brennan listed a series of indicted regime affiliates still in place, she added, "I'm confused. Are they still wanted by the United States? Why didn't you arrest them if you are taking out the narco-terrorist regime?"
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Rubio fired back.
"You're confused? I don't know why that's confusing to you," Rubio said.
Brennan protested they were still in power.
"Yeah, but you’re going to go in and suck up five people? They are already complaining about this one operation. Imagine the howls we would have from everybody else if we actually had to go and stay there four days to capture four other people," he said.
"We got the top priority. The number one person on the list was the guy who claimed to be the president of the country that he was not, and he was arrested, along with his wife, who is also indicted. And that was a pretty sophisticated and, frankly, complicated operation."
"It was," Brennan agreed.
Rubio proceeded to detail the complexity of the operation: landing helicopters on "the world's largest" military base, kicking down Maduro's door, handcuffing him, reading him his rights and putting him on a helicopter to leave the country without losing any American lives or assets.
"That's not an easy mission, and you're asking me why didn't we do that at five other places at the same time? I mean, that's absurd," he added.
Brennan later restated her point that other members of the regime are still in the country.
"I'm asking why you chose that this was the limit of the military operation," she said, to which Rubio reiterated that Maduro claimed to be the country's leader.
The Trump administration successfully captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a limited nighttime operation on Jan. 3 and transported the two to U.S. custody, where federal prosecutors have brought criminal charges against them, officials said.
Fox News' Emma Bussey contributed to this report.