Some People Think Marco Rubio Took Drugs in the Middle of Congressional Testimony

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is one of the busiest men in American politics. In addition to running the nation's foreign service, Rubio is also the national archivist and one of President Trump's closest advisors. On Jan. 28, Rubio went to Capitol Hill to testify about America's incursion into Venezuela and American foreign policy in general.

Even as he made some news during that hearing, some people who watched it were distracted after they began to suspect he might have done some drugs in the middle of his testimony. Here's what we know.

There is no hard evidence to confirm that Rubio took drugs during his testimony. Many eagle-eyed viewers pointed out, though, that Rubio appeared to put something in his mouth while listening to a question and then immediately drank some water to swallow it. While it could have been a mint, the water would be confusing in that scenario. It's also possible that it was some sort of prescription medication.

Whatever it was, the Secretary of State seemed to be going out of his way to conceal it from both the cameras and the public. It's possible he was just trying not to make a big deal out of taking some medication or something else, but there were plenty of people who suspected that Rubio was taking something to keep him awake or focused in the middle of the marathon session.

"Yeah, that’s no mint. Mints don’t have to be concealed by sleight of hand. And who swigs water immediately after putting one in their mouth?" one person wrote on Threads.

"We literally sat and watched Marco Rubio do drugs on camera today and not enough people are talking about that," another person added, writing that we should drug test everyone in the administration the way you might drug test other employees.

While we can't prove that Rubio took any drugs during his testimony, we do know what he actually said. "There is no war against Venezuela, and we did not occupy a country. There are no U.S. troops on the ground," he said during his opening statement, but added that this was a complex situation and that he had no illusions that Venezuela would be a solved country in the near future.

He also said that the administration's immediate priority in the region is stability, even if that means working with actors they would rather not partner with.

"We are dealing with individuals that in our system would not be acceptable in the long term," he said. "But we are in a transition to stabilization phase. You have to work with the people currently in charge of the elements of government."

While some may suspect that Rubio took drugs during his testimony, others are worried about what the administration's incursion into Venezuela might mean not just for that country, but for American foreign policy more generally.