Fox News "Hannity" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Marco Rubio

Interview

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Joining us now with reaction, Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

You know, Senator, by the way, I mean what I say.

First things first here. The Castro brothers, this is a murderous -- murdering communist dictatorship. It always has been from the very beginning. They stole land, they oppressed people, and they -- none of the promises given to the people were ever fulfilled. That's about first on the table.

You, last night, had to embarrass -- it's 8:30, still no word from Joe. It's 10:30, still no word from Joe, and then this tepid pathetic statement that he sends out today and then his spokespeople at the State Department and the White House lying and saying this is about COVID.

That was an outright lie, Senator. You forced their hand to even say anything.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): I don't know why it's so hard for them to criticize Marxists. I -- look, I do think and it's pretty clear that there people out there who aren't saying anything and the president took a whole day to say this. He finally said something. He's still left out the word "Marxist" and "communist" and "socialist".

What you just described, the murderous nature of the Castro regime, that's the way every Marxist regime has ever been, always because Marxism and socialism is built on this. You go to a people and you say, there's this group of good, noble people and there's this group of oppressors that is trying to destroy them. Give us the power to crush the oppressors and if you give us power, we're going to give you security. We're going to give you a stable economy. We're going to give you all the things you need, but the price of that, of course, is your freedom.

So they win, and then what happens? You don't get those things and you don't get your freedom back. And then if you complain about it, they cracked your head open, they put you in jail, they exile you, or they kill you.

And that's what's happening. And that's what happens everywhere all the time. Socialism is about control, about controlling people and every aspect of their lives.

And the passion you see in the streets of Miami tonight and in other parts of Florida and the country is people that suffered under that evil, saw their families divided, their lives destroyed, their kids have to go overseas, people never saw their parents before they died because of evil. That's what Marxism is.

And I wish we had a president and more leaders in Congress on the Democratic side of the aisle -- we have a few, but not enough willing to say that.

HANNITY: What ways could the United States help the people now achieve the goal of liberty and freedom that they want? Now, I know Americans --

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HANNITY: Go ahead. What could we do to help them?

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RUBIO: Well, first of all, make it very clear whose side we're on here, OK? And why they're doing this. People are in the street because they want liberty from Marxism and we're with them.

Number two, make abundantly clear to the -- to the regime in Cuba that the Trump policies are going to change, because that's what they are hoping is going to come out of this. Well, you see how bad things are here, if only you guys would lift the embargo, if only you guys lift sanctions, maybe things would be better for the people of Cuba. Come out right now and say, we're done with our review, we're keeping the Trump policies that allow the military to enrich itself at the expense of the people.

Number three, make it the top priority of the U.S. government to provide Internet access using satellite technology or whatever we can get our hands on so that the people of Cuba can speak to each other and show the world what's happening inside of Cuba.

And the fourth thing that I would do is I would make it abundantly clear to the Castro regime that if you guys threaten us with a mass migration or if you encourage a mass migration, like Mariel, like the rafter crisis of '94, that is an act of hostility against the United States and we will act accordingly.

Those four things have to come across.

HANNITY: My understanding is the Cuban government, typical Marxist dictatorship, has now shut down the Internet for the people of Cuba.

Is there way we can help them get a back up and do it for them? Because I think, it's to show solidarity for their freedom movement?

RUBIO: Yeah, a full-court press. First and foremost, the U.S. Office of Information, USAID, all of these agencies we have available should make abundant -- should it make clear to the people of Cuba what these VPNs are that allow you to get around these filters.

By the way, that system in Cuba that shuts down the Internet, guess who gave it to them? China. China built it, China installed it and I believe China operates it on behalf of the Cuban government. So it's a Chinese system that they're using to shut on the Internet.

But I think long-term, it's something we've been pushing for a long time, we're making progress on it when Trump was in office, and that is to provide Internet access, satellite Internet access so Cubans don't have to go through the lines and the cables that the Cuban government can shut on and off, but can actually use satellites to communicate to the world and to each other. That will take some time but that should be our number one priority in terms of what we can do to help the people of Cuba.

HANNITY: Are murdering regimes, they've got all the powers. You don't win -- you don't win revolutions with slingshots. I know Americans -- that nobody has any appetite for foreign conflict, is there ways that the United States could help the freedom movement in Cuba, other ways?

RUBIO: Well, I think that -- listen, you have to understand something. When we talk about the Cuban military, the bulk of the Cuban military are 17, 18 and 19 year olds that are forced by law to serve in the military for a couple of years. And what they're telling those kids right now is, listen, we're going to send you to a town halfway across the country where you don't know anyone and if you don't repress people, you're not going to go to the university.

So that's why think it's so essential for us to message them and say, do not stay in your hands and blood, do not go to some other town and stain your hands and blood and one of the things I hope we do is start a list and, I mean, use these pictures from online that we're getting to name, with name and last name, these people that are out in the street repressing because they need to be banned.

A lot of these people wind up coming to America two or three years from now saying, oh, I'm a political prisoner, oh, I'm fleeing oppression. But we've got people in this country that were part of those repressive operations in the past. We have to know who they are, identify them, unmask them and put them on a list so not only now, but in the future, they have to face justice.

HANNITY: It's time for this murdering -- murdering Marxist regime to fall.

Senator, I hope this is the time for the sake of the great people of Cuba. Thank you for being with us.

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