Things took a turn for Marco Rubio during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the State Department's FY 2027 budget when Rep. Ted Lieu directly confronted the Secretary of State by playing video footage of Donald Trump falling asleep at official events.
The kicker: Rubio denied it before Lieu broke out the receipts. And then he denied it again after seeing the video evidence.
"Secretary Rubio, have you been at more than one meeting where President Trump has fallen asleep?" Lieu asked.
"That's false," Rubio said. "I've never seen him fall asleep. On the contrary, the guy doesn't sleep, which is a big problem because he calls me at two in the morning. He calls me at five in the morning."
"And, you know, I like to sleep a little bit, maybe not 12 hours, but at least six," he continued. "So he works. The other day, he was at the Oval Office until 12.30 p.m. 12.30 a.m. I don't know what you're talking about."
"Secretary Rubio, I'm going to show you in a moment a video that shows you just lied to Congress," Lieu said.
"Oh, OK," Rubio responded.
"So this is a video of a cabinet meeting literally from last month, where Donald Trump is sleeping while you are talking," Lieu said. "Please show this video."
And they indeed showed the video of Grandpa Trump napping during a cabinet meeting.
"You are literally talking about issues of war and peace, and Donald Trump is sleeping right next to you," Lieu said.
"No, he's not," Rubio said after seeing evidence of Trump sleeping on video right next to him.
"Donald Trump cannot stay awake at these important meetings where the cameras are rolling," Lieu said. "Imagine what he's like when the cameras are not there. So I'm going to ask you, have you been at classified meetings where Donald Trump has fallen asleep or had trouble staying awake?"
"I've never been at any meeting," Rubio said. "And the things you're showing me now, he was not falling asleep. And I think it's outrageous that I'm before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States, also represented, asking questions about sleep."
"You're lying to Congress, Secretary Rubio," Lieu shot back. "So I'm going to show you another video in a moment. The president's inability to stay awake on the job has caused other countries to perceive him differently. They mock him. They see he is weak and he is feeble."
Rubio's lies to Congress remind me of this George Orwell quote: 'The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.'
Look, more receipts!
