Marco Rubio got tough with world leaders in a speech on Friday, going so far as to call some of them “lunatics” and “gangsters.”
According to the Daily Mail , the senator from Florida was talking to a group in South Carolina about foreign policy. Rubio, described as a foreign policy hawk, did not hold back on less-than-diplomatic labels for the leaders of Russia, North Korea, China, and Iran.
CNN reports that he saved his harshest language for Vladimir Putin.
“Russia is governed today by a gangster. He’s basically an organized crime figure who controls a government and a large territory… This is a person who kills people because they’re his political enemies. If you’re a political adversary of Vladimir Putin, you wind up with plutonium in your drink or shot in the street.”
Rubio also talked about how many regimes in the world now threaten the United States, including Iran.
“Iran: A radical, Shi’ite cleric is going to develop a nuclear weapon, and he will also have a long-range missile that can hit the United States.”
As previously reported by the Inquisitr , Dick Cheney also recently chimed in on the Obama administration’s deal with Iran. In an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal , the former vice president and his daughter wrote that the agreement would likely lead to a nuclear war.
Marco Rubio has also been extremely critical of the Iran deal, claiming that would it force the U.S. to fight for Iran if an American ally tried to undermine their nuclear weapons program. Politifact later revealed the senator’s claim was completely false.
Rubio didn’t stop at Iran though.
He quickly moved on to a state that currently has nuclear weapons — North Korea.
“In North Korea, a lunatic possesses dozens of nuclear weapons, and a long-range missile that can hit the United States.”
North Korea recently raised the world’s alarm bells by threatening South Korea. The bout ended with peaceful negotiations and the North expressing “regret” about two South Korean soldiers who died because of a landmine.
In addition to Russia, Iran, and North Korea, Marco Rubio also labeled China a threat to America along with jihadists.
The senator also chastised a number of Latin American countries for being “anti-American.”
He warned that Argentina might also soon fall into that camp “as long as this lady is running the country.”
Rubio was referring to President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Marco Rubio is currently running for the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential campaign.
[Image Credit: Getty Images]
