Ask A Genius 1581: Marco Rubio, Catholic Conscience, and Token Dissent in the Trump Era
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/12/11
How does Marco Rubio’s limited dissent within the Trump administration reflect the clash between Catholic conscience and partisan loyalty in American foreign policy and leadership?
In this exchange, Jacobsen and Rosner discuss Marco Rubio’s constrained dissent within the Trump administration, highlighting the tension between personal conscience and partisan loyalty. Jacobsen expresses greater confidence in foreign leaders than in American officials, arguing that token objections, like Mitt Romney’s, matter less than substantive actions in defending truth.
Rick Rosner: Did anything you saw from the Americans at this conference show you that Americans are capable of anything above board and competent in international relations? I do not know if you can answer that.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Well, let us put it this way. I am more impressed by foreign leaders.
Rosner: All right, let me narrow it. You saw Marco Rubio at this thing.
Jacobsen: He is a petite little good Catholic boy.
Rosner: But there is some speculation that inside himself Marco Rubio is at odds with the Trump administration.
Jacobsen: He is a good little Catholic boy who grew up and is now in a position of power, and he has to cover for a liar. That is very uncomfortable for Catholics; they have a conscience.
Rosner: So is there any chance that he can do better than his administration?
Jacobsen: He is like Mitt Romney — he will dissent a bit, but not much. Romney was one of the first people to dissent, but then he was humiliated by Trump, of course. He stood up against him, but that is not the point. The point is the action, not the reaction.
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