Jonathan Jackson Calls Out Marco Rubio Over Afrikaner Refugees: ‘You Do Not Understand The History Of The Country’

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During Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio about Afrikaner refugees.

Transcript

00:00Chair recognizes Representative Jackson.

00:02Thank you so much, and we acknowledge that we miss our dear colleague Conley.

00:07Thank him for his years of service.

00:09Mr. Speaker, it was 39 years ago here in Washington, D.C.

00:13I was arrested while protesting against the apartheid government in South Africa's white minority

00:19that had a non-minority white for the greater part of the latter half of the 20th century

00:27held captive, if you will, in bondage, which sanctioned racial segregation

00:32and political and economic discrimination against its black citizens.

00:36I believe your policies on South Africa at this point in your career are wrong,

00:42precisely because either you do not understand the history of the country

00:45or you have grown indifferent, and I beg that you go to your higher nature.

00:53That being said, I want to ask you about President Trump ending.

00:56U.S. government support for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility

01:01that promotes fairness in hiring and helps make our national security workforce

01:06the strongest it can be.

01:08In the name of advancing an anti-woke agenda, he has given himself permission to break the law,

01:14attacking congressionally mandated efforts that have enjoined bipartisan consensus for decades.

01:20I believe not only in diversity is our strength as a country,

01:26but in fact our workforce does not reflect our population,

01:30then it merits an inquiry into what are the impediments that are leading to that outcome.

01:36Would you agree with that latter statement that diversity is our strength?

01:39I think unity is our strength.

01:42That we're a diverse nation is important.

01:43Well, those words, you would think that they were mine.

01:47They actually are recorded from you in your Senate hearing in July of 2022.

01:53Further, do you believe that following the law is important, yes or no?

01:57We follow the law every day.

01:58Okay.

01:59Well, you wear so many hats.

02:01It must be difficult to keep track of all the laws that you have supported.

02:04But yes, you did vote in favor of the bill, and I want to read a section of the bill that you did support.

02:09It's section 5403 of the 2022 NDAA requires that the State Department to strengthen recruitment of people belonging to underrepresented groups.

02:21I know Mr. Trump has asked you all not to say that as cabinet officials,

02:24and I hope you have the guts to tell the president on some matters he is simply wrong.

02:29Mandating outreach to universities, employees' affinity groups, and expanding paid student internships are among the actions.

02:38So I would like to know, do you stand by strengthening diversity within the ranks of the State Department?

02:43I stand by hiring the best people to do the job, irrespective of their background, the race, color, creed.

02:48So you're going against the very law that you had once supported, which I find highly contradictory and hypocritical.

02:54I hope that you would have the courage of your convictions, be the Marco Rubio, the senator that we knew,

03:02and not the secretary of state that is now capitulating to that of a tyrant and that of Mr. Donald Trump.

03:10At this point, I would like to yield my balance of my time to the Honorable Sarah McBride.

03:15And I thank you so much for your time.

03:18The president was elected as far as I recall.

03:20I've yielded my time, sir.

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