Marco Rubio questions ‘credibility’ of Joe Biden’s ‘Summit for Democracy’

No taco: Rubio has fun with Jill Biden comments. Image via A.G. Gancarski

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio panned President Joe Biden‘s “Summit for Democracy” Thursday, questioning the credibility of the event amid what he sees as America’s diminished position on the world stage.

“I think it’s a credibility problem that this administration has. It has it here, but I think it has it internationally,” the Senator said on Mornings with Maria on the Fox Business Network.

Biden’s virtual event convened Thursday morning, with the President hopeful the conclave could reverse a “recession” in democracy globally.

But Rubio believes the issues are closer to home, and the summit spotlights problems with Biden’s foreign policy.

“The bigger, fundamental question is what credibility do we have after these. Because it’s great to bring people together, but if that doesn’t lead to some actionable items that emerge from it, then it really was just symbolic,” Rubio said.

“I think for the United States, we have some fundamental challenges under Joe Biden,” Rubio said, citing situations in Colombia and Afghanistan as examples.

“You’ve got a lot of (countries) around the world that are wondering, ‘yeah, democracy’s great and we’ll go to your Zoom meeting, but ultimately what does this lead to and can we really count on you when the rubber meets the road?'” Rubio added.

The summit includes countries that may not satisfy all definitions of democracy, including Pakistan and the Philippines, both of which have been spotlighted for human rights violations.

Invitations to these countries, said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, does not confer a “stamp of approval or disapproval.”

“It’s just meant to have a diverse range of voices and faces and representatives at the discussion,” she said, according to the Associated Press.

Criticism of the summit has come from two of America’s chief global rivals, as CNN notes. The network quoted a Russian commentator in a Chinese newspaper comparing the event to “a mistress of a brothel teaching (morals) to schoolgirls.”

“The U.S. side claims that its so-called democracy summit is to defend democracy, then I can’t help asking with the most abundant and advanced medical resources and technology, how could the U.S. allow more than 800,000 of its people to die from the virus and leave nearly 50 million people suffering the COVID still?” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian asked this week. “With such human rights tragedies, how can the U.S. defend democracy?”

Compared to that rhetoric, Rubio’s remarks are pretty mild.