Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested Sunday that CBS host Margaret Brennan âwatch the newsâ as they clashed over the revocation of Syrian-born former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalilâs visa.
Khalil, 30, was arrested on March 8 by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials following his involvement in a student encampment at the university last year, allegedly linking him to âactivities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,â according to the Associated Press. With both his green card and student visa revoked, Brennan asked Rubio on âFace the Nationâ if there was any âmaterial supportâ that Khalil had provided to Hamas.
âWell, not just the student. Weâre going to do more. In fact, every day now weâre approving visa revocations, and if that visa led to a green card, the green card process as well,â Rubio said. âWhen you apply to enter the United States and you get a visa, you are a guest. Youâre coming as a student, youâre coming as a tourist, or what have you.â
âIn it, you have to make certain assertions. If you tell us, when you apply for a visa, âIâm coming to the U.S. to participate in pro-Hamas events,â that runs counter to the foreign policy interest of the United States of America. Itâs that simple. So you lied. If you had told us that you were going to do that, we never would have given you the visa. Now youâre here. Now you do it. You lied to us. Youâre out. Itâs that simple. Itâs that straightforward,â Rubio added.
Brennan, however, continued pressing the secretary of state, asking if there was âany evidence of a link to terrorismâ or if it was simply âhis point of viewâ that officials disagreed with.
âYeah, they take over â I mean, you should watch the news. These guys take over entire buildings. They vandalize colleges. They shut down colleges,â Rubio responded.
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âWe covered it intensely,â Brennan hit back. âIâm asking about the specific justification for the revocation of his visa. Was there any evidence of material support for terrorism?â
Rubio pushed back against the CBS host, stating that Khalil was ânegotiating on behalf of people that took over a campus and vandalized buildings.â He added that acting as a ânegotiatorâ was a âcrime in and of itselfâ before emphasizing that the U.S. doesnât âneed these peopleâ in the country.
âWe never should have allowed them in the first place. If he had told us, âIâm going over there, and Iâm going over there to become the spokesperson and one of the leaders of a movement thatâs going to turn one of your allegedly elite colleges upside down, people canât even go to school, libraries and buildings being vandalized,â we never would have let him in,â Rubio continued.
Since Khalilâs arrest, protesters have gathered in his defense now that the Trump administration is seeking to deport him. In April 2024, Khalil dubbed himself the âlead negotiatorâ for Columbia Universityâs Apartheid Divest, with the group demanding the school divest from companies linked to Israel.
âIf you are in this country to promote Hamas, to promote terrorist organizations, to participate in vandalism, to participate in acts of rebellion and riots on campus, we never would have let you in if we had known that. Now that we know it, youâre going to leave,â Rubio said.
âWe donât want people in our country that are going to be committing crimes, undermining our national security or public safety. Itâs that simple,â Rubio continued. âI donât know where weâve gotten it in our head that a visa is some sort of birthright â it is not. It is a visitor into our country, and if you violate the terms of your visitation, you are going to leave.â
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