Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed Republican midterm losses on Friday.
“Politics requires more than simply winning elections,” Rubio told supporters at the National Lawyers Convention in Washington, D.C., NBC News reported.
The remarks marked his first major address since Election Day, delivered to the conservative Federalist Society.
“Those who believe that one setback, one defeat, one bad election spells the end of the republic should look to you as an example for inspiration,” Rubio said.
His name has frequently circulated as a potential 2028 presidential candidate.
“Great things that last are built in decades, not election cycles,” he told the audience.
Institutional Power
Rubio urged the crowd to remember that the government remains only one source of political influence.
He pointed to the power held by universities, the press, and civil society.
“Elections decide who holds office for a season, but elections, they do not decide by themselves what our institutions teach or what our lawyers believe,” Rubio said.
He condemned recurring claims regarding international law violations by the United States.
Those allegations involve Caribbean Sea strikes on boats allegedly used for drug trafficking and Trump administration immigration enforcement.
Rubio also defended the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the ongoing war in Iran.
“None of this has anything to do with any real higher standard of justice,” Rubio said. “It is a function of the people who control the official organs of global governance.”
Global Bodies
Rubio denounced the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.
“For this global elite, international law is not a neutral body of rules,” he said. “International law is an instrument, an instrument to advance their interests under the pretense of universal principles.”
The Trump administration imposed sweeping sanctions on the ICC last month as part of its campaign against the court.
Rubio also criticized domestic activist courts.
“The weaponization of international law is not altogether different from what we’ve seen here at home,” he said.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly clashed with the Supreme Court, which holds a 6-3 conservative majority.
The high court ruled against Trump this year on tariff policies, birthright citizenship plans, mail-in ballots, and the firing of a Federal Reserve member.
Following the tariff ruling, Trump called the justices a disgrace to the nation.
