Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, left, a California Democrat, wouldn’t let Secretary of State Marco Rubio get a word in edgewise. (Luke Johnson – Los Angeles Times / Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
By Joe Saunders June 3, 2026 at 4:25pm
As the country’s chief diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has plenty of practice dealing with hostile parties.
Wrangling with Chinese communists isn’t easy. Going toe-to-toe with the murderous mullahs of Iran during “peace” talks in Pakistan has to be trying.
But when it comes to pure, grandstanding venom, a California Democrat on Wednesday might have outpaced them all.
During a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove — who represents the overwhelmingly Democratic 37th Congressional District in Los Angeles County — launched a blistering salvo of questions while literally leaving no time for Rubio to respond.
A portion of it is below:
Democrat Sydney Kamlager-Dove Triggered by @SecRubio — Leaves Hearing After She Wouldn’t Let Him Respond pic.twitter.com/wJFahXxNb8
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) June 3, 2026
Kimlager-Dove’s questioning focused on oil contracts in Venezuela after the U.S. military removed former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to Fox News. Early, in one of the rare moments he got to speak at all, Rubio attempted to correct the lawmaker:
“This goes right to the point of transparency,” he said. “You’re absolutely wrong about the way the money flows. It’s pretty straightforward, and I’ll share it …”
He was immediately cut off as Kamlager-Dove declared, “I’m gonna have to reclaim my time again …”
After more back-and-forth as Rubio attempted to get a word in edgewise, exasperation started showing in the normally unflappable Republican.
“So why am I here, if I’m not going to answer your questions and your defamatory statements?” he asked.
He didn’t get an answer, but he got more of an earful.
“If you can’t call out corruption in this country, then how can you call it out in another?” asked Kamlager-Dove, a fringe leftist even by congressional leftist standards.
“I can’t say anything, because you won’t let me speak,” he answered, before Kamlager-Dove cut him off again.
Rubio — and the American people — were eventually rescued by Kamlager-Dove’s time running out, though that didn’t quite stop her from jabbing.
Do you approve of the job Marco Rubio has done as secretary of state?
“And giving contracts with no transparency is exactly the reason why you shut down USAID,” she said in a voice that rose well beyond the need of her microphone to carry it. “So practice what you preach!”
“Oh, she gets to scream now, too?” Rubio asked.
That line — delivered with a perfect blend of mockery, sarcasm, and sincerity — evidently got the best of a bad situation.
Kamlager-Dove stalked out of the hearing, probably sure that she’d recorded enough video to go viral for the left. (If so, she’ll be disappointed. As of late Wednesday afternoon, not even the lefties on the Bluesky social media platform were biting.)
She not only lost control of herself, she lost the interest of her comrades.
That gave Republican Rep. Maria Salazar of Miami the floor, and she promptly offered Rubio — a fellow Floridian — some of her time to answer Kamlager-Dove’s charges.
But before she got started, Rubio summed up the proceedings perfectly (at least when it’s Democratic lawmakers asking the question):
HILARIOUS: *Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) RAGES for 5 minutes*
Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “Oh she gets to scream now too? Scream and shout!… What kind of thing is this?… It’s not a hearing. It’s like a dunk tank.”
*Kamlager-Dove STORMS out*
Marco Rubio: “Why is… pic.twitter.com/FtWsrSILCX
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) June 3, 2026
“What kind of thing is this? What is this?” he asked. “You get asked questions for five minutes, and you don’t get time to answer them?
“It’s not a hearing — it’s like a dunk tank.”
He’s probably had it easier in Pakistan.
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Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro desk editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He’s been with Liftable Media since 2015.
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He’s been with Liftable Media since 2015. Largely a product of Catholic schools, who discovered Ayn Rand in college, Joe is a lifelong newspaperman who learned enough about the trade to be skeptical of every word ever written. He was also lucky enough to have a job that didn’t need a printing press to do it.
Birthplace
Philadelphia
Nationality
American
