Marco Rubio Humiliates Himself While Refusing To Admit That Obama Won On Iran Deal

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) humiliated himself on national television today by getting the basics of the Iran resolution wrong while refusing to admit that President Obama has won.

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Here was the exchange between Sen. Rubio and Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer:

Hemmer: Now that they’ve got the votes, the Iran deal looks like a done deal.

Rubio: Well, first of all, they don’t have the votes to pass it. He has the votes to sustain a veto. Irrespective of where this ends up, I’m confident that a majority of the House and Senate are going to reject this deal. But here’s a broader point, this is not a treaty. There’s nothing about this that’s binding on the next administration, So, When I’m President of the United States, we will reimpose those sanctions on Day 1, and then I will go to Congress, ask them even to increase sanctions more, and I will back that up with a credible threat of military force.

Hemmer: So the votes to override a veto are not there. So in essence, this is a done deal, Senator.

Rubio: Well, it’s a done deal for the next eighteen months….

Rubio was frighteningly wrong on some basic points. Democrats don’t need to have the votes to pass the legislation. The resolution that is being discussed is a resolution of disapproval. Democrats do not want to pass it.

Rubio tried to disguise the crushing Republican defeat by claiming that a majority in the House and Senate will vote for the resolution, but it doesn’t matter if a majority supports it. Republicans need 60 votes to pass the resolution of disapproval, and right now, they don’t have sixty.

Sen. Rubio’s point about the deal not being binding for future presidents also isn’t true. Legal experts such as Yale Law School professor Bruce Ackerman argue that by turning the Iran deal into a joint decision between the legislative and executive branches, Republicans in Congress have made it impossible for a future president to unilaterally kill the deal. Ackerman said, “Presidents do not have the power to repudiate congressional-executive agreements without strictly following the procedures laid out by Congress in its original authorizing legislation. Congress’ decision was very unwise.”

In other words, the only way that Congress could kill the deal would be if Republicans had 60 Senate votes and control of the White House. The odd of both of these results coming from the 2016 election are highly unlikely.

Rubio was schooled by Fox News while getting the basic facts wrong. Forget about becoming president, Marco Rubio is a walking embarrassment who isn’t qualified to be a U.S. Senator.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association