Pro-Palestine protesters crashed Secretary of State Antony Blinken's hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday. During an appearance on Fox and Friends, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) blasted the demonstrators and warned that Hamas is taking advantage of the anti-Israel sentiment in America and the Biden Administration's restraint, believing themselves to "have the upper hand" and are "winning the PR war."
Sen. Rubio began by ripping the protesters who interrupted the Senate's hearing with Secretary Blinken, saying, "Nothing happens to them. They are arrested, they are put out on bail, [and] they are fine. They are let go and they are back out here the next day doing the exact same thing."
Regarding the criticism that Senate Republicans laid into Sec. Blinken for the Biden Administration hindering Israel's war effort, Sen. Rubio said, "It is very simple: Israel has to destroy Hamas. Hamas has basically defined victory as survival. The fact that they are still in place and can hold press conferences and put out statements; that is [a] victory for Hamas."
After all, he noted, "Hamas thinks they have the upper hand" because they are aware of the recent anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses throughout the United States and the recent decision by the Biden Administration to withhold weapons from the Jewish State as they push into Rafah.
Thus, Rubio suggested the war's endgame would result in Hamas's survival instead of its destruction.
"It gives you the ability to believe that you can hold out longer to play harder ball in negotiations to increase what the conditions would be for any ceasefire [and] the end of hostilities. So, in addition to hurting Israel tactically, it is encouraging Hamas that, in combination with the protests and riots on our campuses. When the kinds of things that Hamas sees and says, 'We are winning the PR war, we are winning the war on influencing American foreign policy, Israel has less leverage. We need to hold out longer; we may not even need to surrender," Rubio concluded.
Other Florida lawmakers have warned of Hamas's advantage over Israel when it comes to influence, such as Representatives Mike Waltz (R-FL), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), and Brian Mast (R-FL).
