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Rubio and the Pope

May 8, 2026Center Right

There, headlining everywhere in the media, is the story. Here’s a sample headline, this one from NPR: “Rubio visits Vatican...

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Billionaire Trump ally melts down in spat with pope: ‘Working for Chinese communists”

Raw Story

7 hours ago

Billionaire Trump ally melts down in spat with pope: ‘Working for Chinese communists”

Right-wing tech billionaire Peter Thiel is accusing Pope Leo XIV of doing the work of the Chinese Communist Party with his criticisms of artificial intelligence.According to a Thursday report from CNN, Thiel told the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado on Tuesday that the pope was inadvertently serving as a “Chinese communist agent” when he released a 42,000-word encyclical that called for strict regulation of AI, a technology that the pontiff said heightens the “risk of dehumanization” throughout the world.Thiel argued that this sort of thinking was dangerous, CNN reported, because it could result in the US losing the “race” to build more advanced AI to China. Because of this, Thiel continued, the pope is essentially “working for the Chinese communists” by trying to tap the brakes on AI development.Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, has long decried AI critics in harsh terms. Over the last year, he has been delivering a series of lectures in which he has said that opponents of AI development are working as agents for the Antichrist.Journalist Christopher Hale, who writes the Letters From Leo newsletter, noted on Friday that Thiel in the past has even speculated that Pope Leo could be “a manifestation of the Antichrist.”Thiel has said that he instructed Vice President JD Vance, a longtime political ally who received major funding from the tech billionaire for his 2022 Senate campaign, to ignore the pope’s moral guidance despite influencing Vance to convert to Catholicism, Hale added.“Thiel seeded the vice president’s Catholic faith,” Hale wrote, “and he now tells wealthy festival audiences that the leader of that faith works for a communist government.”In addition to his attacks on the pope, Thiel also warned about “a democratic-socialist takeover of the Democratic Party,” pointing to recent victories in New York and Colorado of candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.Thiel said that this “takeover” would doom the US, arguing that “when the Democratic Party goes, this country is over,” according to CNN.The New York Times reported in May that Thiel has grown so concerned about the political situation in the US that he’s created a “foothold” for himself in Argentina, which is currently being governed by ideologically likeminded libertarian President Javier Milei.“Thiel, who has a history of collecting backup countries as he hedges his bets against the United States, is considering making Argentina another Plan B,” the Times reported. “Born in Germany and raised in the United States, he received citizenship in New Zealand in 2011, and applied for a passport in Malta in 2022.”

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Rubio privately admits Iran deal may not be 'likely' in tense closed-door meeting: report

Raw Story

3 days ago

Rubio privately admits Iran deal may not be 'likely' in tense closed-door meeting: report

A Republican congressman pushed back on Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the Trump administration's Iran agreement during a private House briefing Monday, and Rubio conceded the negotiations may go nowhere.Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) questioned why the U.S. would even attempt to deal with Tehran, according to a source on the call who relayed the exchange to reporter Mychael Schnell of MS NOW."I don’t understand the MOU from the standpoint of trying to come to an agreement with the country that has never been compliant with anything they’ve done in the past,” McCormick said, per the source. He added that lifting pre-war sanctions "just shows them that they're victorious," and said: "I just don't understand why we'd even consider dealing with these people in any sort of good-faith agreement."The briefing, led by Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, followed the 14-point memorandum of understanding Trump signed June 17 to halt the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and open a 60-day window for talks on sanctions and Iran's nuclear program.Rubio responded that Iran is already doing things it would never have done, and argued the U.S. should judge Tehran by its actions rather than its statements, per the source. He also lowered expectations."No one is here under any illusion that this is easy, or even likely, in some cases… There's a reason why this has been going on for 47 years, but we’re gonna give it an opportunity," Rubio said, per the source.McCormick's skepticism echoes the alarm that greeted the deal's sanctions concessions, and lands as the ceasefire frays, with U.S. forces striking Iran again last week.

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Complicit Rubio could be 'more dangerous than Trump': conservative

Raw Story

3 days ago

Complicit Rubio could be 'more dangerous than Trump': conservative

As Secretary of State Marco Rubio assumes a commanding position as the presumed successor to Donald Trump’s MAGA throne, one of the former Florida senator’s supporters wondered this week if he is damaged goods.Writing for NOTUS, longtime conservative columnist Matt Lewis noted that he supported Rubio in 2016 and his esteem for him has only grown, but now he worries that not only has he been “complicit,” which could damage his future or worse, or could he have learned the wrong lessons from the Trump administration.Lewis articulates that central tension by writing, "The possibility that this sad detour in American politics could end with a President Rubio offers, at least on the surface, a tiny bit of hope," but that fragile optimism collapses under the weight of Rubio's actual record within the Trump administration.The imagery haunts Lewis. He recalls Rubio "sinking into that couch while Trump and JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy"—a moment that crystallizes Rubio's passivity in the face of presidential misconduct."Any Republican who remained opposed to Trump has already been purged, which means the only viable Republicans have, to varying degrees, been tainted," Lewis observed before asking is he a "calculating conservative" or, "... has he transformed into a genuine populist nationalist? Or is he simply a chameleon? Is there even a 'real' Rubio?""If Rubio is an amoral Machiavellian, he might prove more dangerous than Trump, precisely because he’s more competent — and has had more time to observe the testing of America’s institutional guardrails," Lewis wrote before proposing, "If he has transformed into a populist nationalist, then he would compete in the same lane as Vance and Tucker Carlson — perhaps explaining to voters why his worldview evolved during the Trump era, and how he might offer a kinder, gentler version of this philosophy."Adding that he hopes Rubio is "playing the long game," doing what he needs to do to remain "viable', he warned, "Then again, if a presidential candidate is willing to placate Trump to get elected, can we trust him to govern independently once he is in the White House?"

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Warnock on Vance criticism of Pope Leo: ‘My faith is not a weapon’

The Hill News

5 days ago

Warnock on Vance criticism of Pope Leo: ‘My faith is not a weapon’

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock (Ga.) expressed concern Sunday about Vice President Vance criticizing Pope Leo XIV. Warnock, a Baptist pastor, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he is “glad” that Vance wrote about his religious journey in his new book “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.” The Georgia Democrat told host Jake…

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The Atlantic

5 days ago

Vance vs. Rubio: Iran Edition

The two are pursuing different approaches to one of the world’s most intractable diplomatic issues.

Center Left

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Breitbart News

6 days ago

White House Official: Vance, Rubio ‘Lockstep’ on Iran

A White House official blasted reports claiming that Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are delivering mixed messages on Iran, and Rubio stresses the administration is in "lockstep" on foreign policy. The post White House Official: Vance, Rubio ‘Lockstep’ on Iran appeared first on Breitbart.

Far Right

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Rubio unveils ‘framework for lasting peace’ between Israel and Lebanon

WorldNetDaily

6 days ago

Rubio unveils ‘framework for lasting peace’ between Israel and Lebanon

'That's what these two nations deserve'

Far Right

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Secretary Rubio Announces Trilateral Peace Framework Between Israel and Lebanon Supported by USA

The Last Refuge

6 days ago

Secretary Rubio Announces Trilateral Peace Framework Between Israel and Lebanon Supported by USA

PRESS RELEASE – […] Today, the Governments of Israel and Lebanon made a bold decision to agree to a framework that builds a realistic path out of endless conflict. This agreement establishes a clear and structured process to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hizballah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and enable Israel to return to its borders […] The post Secretary Rubio Announces Trilateral Peace Framework Between Israel and Lebanon Supported by USA appeared first on The Last Refuge.

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