Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered the keynote at the Federalist Society's National Lawyers Convention at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on Friday evening. He used it to attack international law and bodies such as the International Criminal Court, and to put the Nov. 3 midterm losses in a longer frame.
The timing gave the speech its weight, though outlets described it differently. Reuters called it his first prepared remarks since an election in which, by that outlet's description, Republicans were routed. According to the Washington Examiner, it was his first public speaking engagement since the vote. Fox News and Newsweek called it his first major speech outside his diplomatic role.
The State Department said in advance that the remarks would stream on its website and YouTube, according to local Fox affiliate reporting that has not been checked against the department's site. No official transcript had been located when this story was written, so the quotations below come from news reports of the speech.
A Season, Not a Verdict
CNN reported that Rubio downplayed the losses, and quoted him looking well past the next cycle: "We have much more to do over the next two, the next six, the next 20 years."
NBC News, in its live coverage, carried this line: "Elections decide who holds office for a season." That quotation comes from a live blog and should be checked against the transcript.
According to a report carried by WFTV and WSB-TV, Rubio also told the crowd, "I think we have to recognize that people are struggling." The report as it appeared in the available text carried the remark about economic struggles; the wire credit was not shown.
There was some humor too. CNN reported that Rubio joked about a congressman who told people to "lawyer up" after election night. NBC said he took aim at a Democratic congressman, but the name was not clear in the available reporting, and it is not confirmed that the two accounts describe the same person.
Swords and the Hague
The sharpest material was aimed at the International Criminal Court. Reuters and the Washington Times both reported that Rubio attacked the court. Discussing how America responds to court enforcement against Americans, Rubio quoted the Roman general Pompey, Reuters reported: "Stop quoting laws to men with swords."
Accounts differ on whether that line was in the text. Reuters described the speech as prepared remarks, while The Hill described the Pompey quote as an unscripted ad-lib that drew laughter. The official video, once checked, should settle it.
The Washington Times placed the speech in the context of what it described as a whole-of-government approach to the court announced in July, and reported that five nations, Chad, Venezuela, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, have withdrawn from the ICC after American lobbying. That figure comes from the Washington Times alone and has not been independently confirmed.
In a preview published before the speech, Fox News framed Rubio's argument as a case against the so-called rules-based international order and a lingering "spirit of Marx" among global bureaucrats. That framing appears only in the Fox preview; whether those words made it into the delivered speech has not been confirmed.
The 2028 Questions Around the Speech
The event was the 25th annual Barbara K. Olson Memorial Lecture, titled "Enemies in War, in Peace Friends," according to the Federalist Society as cited by local affiliate reporting. The convention, themed "250 Years of American Exceptionalism," runs through Saturday.
Speculation about Rubio's future continues. Reuters reported that he firmly denied reports that he will soon run for president, and the Washington Examiner's related-story links mention that he denies rumors that he plans to resign. Newsweek reported that Rachel Paulose, a speaker at the convention, told Fox News Digital that people will wonder about his plans. It is unclear from the available reporting whether Rubio addressed 2028 directly from the podium.
What comes next is mostly verification. The State Department's transcript and video should confirm exactly what was said and what was improvised. No future date has been confirmed for any decision by Rubio about 2028, and for now he remains the nation's top diplomat.
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