Secretary of State Marco Rubio absolutely demolished Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal in a tense back-and-forth during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing that came to a head when Rep. Jayapal began shouting at Secretary Rubio in a berserk freakout that has become the norm for the woke lawmaker.
For context during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs Hearing on May 21, 2025, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio got into an intense argument over the revoking of a Turkish graduate student’s visa after she published writing that was viewed as extremely critical of Israel. When pressed on the issue, Secretary Rubio reminded Rep. Jayapal that a student visa is a “privilege” and that those who travel to the United States to study are “guests.”
During the hearing, Rep. Jayapal asked Secretary Rubio why the State Department had approved the revocation of a student visa for Rameza Osterk, who Rep. Jayapal described as having written “an op-ed, according to an internal State Department memo — you took this action under your discretionary authority to revoke visas.
Continuing, the congresswoman said that after Osterk’s visa had been revoked, “masked plainclothes officers snatched Ms. Ozturk off the street and transported her to a prison in Louisiana, Mr. Secretary.” She added, “Do you really think that Ms Ozturk’s op op-ed results in a foreign policy consequence—” At this point, Secretary Rubio interjected, saying, “The exact case involves someone whose visa we never would have granted had we known ahead of time—”
Next, Rep. Jayapal interrupted the secretary, saying, “The State Department wrote a memo concluding that you did not have sufficient grounds to revoke Ms. Ozturk’s visa.” She continued, getting more aggressive, “There was no evidence showing that she’d engaged in any activities that were a threat to national security.” The congresswoman added, “Where in the Constitution does it say that the Secretary of State can override the First Amendment protections of free speech?”
Pushing back against Rep. Jayapal’s accusations, the secretary replied, “There’s no constitutional right to a student visa.” The congresswoman shot back, “Does it say somewhere that Marco Rubio gets to determine which speech is appropriate and revoke student visas based on what you think constitutes free—” The secretary interjected, “There’s a statute that says the Secretary of State gets to determine whether someone is a threat.”
Continuing, the secretary said, “We deny visas every day,” and added, “Congress can always change the law if you want, but I’m telling you, I will continue to revoke the visas of these people that come here to tear this country apart…on student visas. They’re guests!” Rep. Jayapal retorted, “You are talking about revoking student visas based on what somebody says.”
"*" indicates required fields
As the tensions continued to build, Rep. Jayapal aggressively asked the secretary, “If these are legitimate law enforcement agents carrying out proper arrests, why are they hiding their identities?” Secretary Rubio matter-of-factly replied, “Because then radical crazies will try to hurt them.” He then added, “That law student was a guest in the United States on a student visa. No one’s entitled to a student visa.”
Watch the heated exchange:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video