Must Watch: Rubio Goes Hard on the 'Unique Evil' of Far-Left Terrorism, Promises More to Come
As I reported last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invited the foreign ministers and other senior officials from over 60 countries to Washington, D.C. for a summit on combatting the "resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism."
That summit is taking place as I write this on Thursday morning, and Rubio kicked it off with one heck of a speech. But before I get to that, I want to share a few notes from the State Department, which defines the resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism as "violent attacks against private citizens, government officials, police and law enforcement, businesses, and critical infrastructure across the globe."
Historically, most politically motivated terrorism in the West has been carried out by violent far-left groups and individuals. Between 1970 and 1980, far-left terrorists were responsible for 93% of terrorist attacks and 58% of terrorism-related deaths.
Since 2016, far-left terrorist plots and attacks have sharply increased in the United States and Europe, with a growing trend of violence against individuals.
Far-left anti-government terrorism now accounts for more attacks and plots in the United States than any other ideological category. Far-left actors were responsible for 63% of all recorded anti-government attacks or plots as well as three out of the four anti-government fatalities in the United States in 2025.
In 2024, there were 21 attacks in the European Union attributed to far-left and anarchist terrorists, as compared to 24 attacks from jihadist terrorists that same year. Of the 45 reported terrorist attacks in Europe in 2025, 12 were attributed to far-left and anarchist actors.
Over the past three years, Europe has experienced a record high number of terrorist attacks targeting rail networks, critical infrastructure, and private businesses, resulting in millions of euros in damage and economic disruption, with most attacks attributed to far-left and anarchist actors.
So far, the State Department has designated various Antifa groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and during his speech on Thursday, Rubio promised there are more to come. It's also offered "up to $10 million for information disrupting the financial mechanisms supporting designated far-left terrorism groups," and in May, it hosted the inaugural Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Workshop. We're increasing how much we engage with our foreign partners on this matter, and we're coordinating with foreign governments to improve law enforcement and restrict travel for these terrorists, too.
Rubio began his speech by saying that the number one responsibility of any government should be to protect the people it represents.
He went on to point out that for a long time, counterterrorism in the United States focused primarily on Islamist extremism, which was necessary, but that there had always been a blind spot when it came to extremist violence from the political left.
He accused many in the press, academia, and other legacy institutions of dismissing left-wing violence as a "right-wing fever dream." He added that "a bomb planted by a Neo-Nazi group" is often labeled a "nefarious and murderous act of evil," while a "bomb planted by a Marxist Revolutionary" is "just merely a tragic excess of idealism."
Rubio went on to say that many people here in the United States dismiss acts of violence and terrorism if it benefits the left-wing cause and that it's time to put an end to that. He pointed to the George Floyd riots from the summer of 2020 and how media outlets called them "mostly peaceful" despite all the obvious violence and crime we saw with our own eyes, as well as other more recent examples, like Charlie Kirk's murder, assassination attempts on Donald Trump, violence against ICE officers, and a transgender individual shooting up an elementary school. He listed numerous examples from other countries as well.
Here are some clips from that part of the speech.
Then he dropped this, which was the best part of the speech in my opinion. This is exactly why I like this guy:
This is a distinctive and unique evil. It has always been driven by a hatred, above all else, a hatred for civilization itself. It is a revolt of the worst against the best, a revolt of the weak and cowardly against the strong and the good. It's perpetrated by those who cannot build, who cannot create, who cannot achieve great things, and take their revenge upon the world for their own inadequacies, by seeking to destroy those who can.
This is what radical leftism is. It may wear various different slogans and ideologies across place and time. They call themselves anti-capitalist or anti-imperialist, communist, anarchist, Marxist, but the fundamental character is always the same. It is a poisonous resentment cloaked in the language of equality, justice, and liberation; an overwhelming need to tear down what greater men have built; to wreck what is beautiful and what is right on behalf of people who are only filled with ugliness and have nothing else to offer.
You can watch the entirety of that part of the speech here:
He pointed out that these incidents are not limited to certain countries because these groups do not recognize borders. "Under President Trump, for the first time, the United States is building the infrastructure, the partnerships, and the strategy to defeat the scourge of far-left terror," he said.
And he concluded by saying, "We will dismantle these networks brick by brick. It is time for the people of the civilized world to defend ourselves."
If you prefer to watch the entire speech rather than clips — which I highly recommend — you can do so here.
