CBS’s Margaret Brennan had what may be her defining moment—not in a good way—on a recent episode of Face the Nation when Senator Marco Rubio thoroughly outclassed her. The exchange wasn’t only high theater; it was a televised demolition, capped off by Rubio’s now-viral zinger: “You should watch the news.”
It was a moment so clean, so cutting, and so revealing of Brennan’s confusion that it deserves to live in the media blooper Hall of Fame. If such a place existed, it would need a whole wing dedicated to Brennan’s greatest hits—each a case study in face-palming futility. Watch it here.
A Masterclass in Missing the Point
The exchange centered on Brennan’s insistence that the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a doctoral student at Columbia and leader of CUAD, somehow raised troubling “free speech” concerns. Brennan seemed genuinely perplexed—and more than a little miffed—that the federal government would dare remove a foreign national who leads a group that has:
- Advocated violence,
- Obstructed Jewish students’ access to campus,
- Forced Columbia University into lockdown,
- And called for the overthrow of the West, including the United States.
Rubio calmly explained that Khalil is not a U.S. citizen and that his activities constitute grounds for deportation. When she doubled down, Rubio fired back: “You should watch the news.”
Rubio didn’t stop there—he also called out the galling hypocrisy of those championing Khalil’s “free speech rights” while cheerleading efforts to censor American citizens online. That one left a mark.
Before diving deeper into Brennan’s latest constitutional contortion, it’s worth quoting a blistering summary from Scott McKay at The American Spectator, which captured the absurdity of her position with brutal clarity:
Mahmoud Khalil doesn’t have the same rights as an American citizen. Our government is stuck with American citizens and it has to put up with things we say. It so happens that the Margaret Brennans of the world don’t understand this all that well, given their implicit or explicit support for the throttling of disapproved points of view on election integrity, COVID lockdowns, and other subjects; it was OK to deplatform America’s Frontline Doctors but not a Syrian student leading rioters who terrorize Jewish students at Columbia?
Huh?
Khalil was carrying around pro-Hamas literature calling for violence against Jews and she wanted to see evidence of ‘material support for terrorism?’
Lady, what on earth are you talking about?
Then again, when it comes to Margaret Brennan, asking, “What on earth are you talking about?” has practically become a national pastime—right up there with baseball, barbecue, and wondering how network anchors with shiny credentials can keep getting basic facts so spectacularly wrong.
Brennan Fumbles Free Speech—Again
Let’s break it down slowly, in case Margaret’s research team needs help prepping next week’s teleprompter:
- The First Amendment does not apply in the same way to non-citizens, particularly those engaged in national security threats or aligned with a recognized terrorist group, such as, say, Hamas.
- CUAD’s leadership has promoted antisemitic rhetoric, encouraged violence, and created an openly hostile campus environment.
- The United States is not obligated to host foreign nationals who openly oppose its government or its foreign policy objectives—and then, for good measure, participate in disruptive activities that interfere with even a single classmate’s right to an education. That’s not “silencing dissent”—that’s called immigration enforcement. And let’s be clear—Khalil and his ilk didn’t just try to undermine U.S. foreign policy; that was their entire point.
This is basic civics and common sense. But once more, Brennan took a shot and didn’t just miss the mark—she missed the entire dartboard and knocked over a potted plant across the room.
A UVA Problem, Again
Of course, none of this would sting quite so much if Brennan weren’t a proud graduate of the University of Virginia. Once a beacon of Jeffersonian ideals and constitutional literacy, UVA now seems to churn out broadcast journalists who mistake Facebook discourse for intellectual rigor and think shouting “authoritarianism!” is a legal argument.
This is Brennan’s second national embarrassment in a matter of weeks—first with her baffling claim that Nazi Germany “weaponized” free speech, and now with her apparent belief that a Hamas sympathizer is being framed as some kind of civil rights icon.
Is there a crisis hotline for UVA alumni every time Brennan goes live?
Brennan should avoid First Amendment issues altogether. Every time she goes off-script, constitutional law takes a body blow.
Why Republicans Should Keep Showing Up
Some suggest Republicans should boycott Face the Nation. I say: absolutely not. Every time an administration official or senator like Secretary Rubio or Senator Graham appears, Brennan finds a fresh rake to step on.
GOP guests don’t just survive her interviews—they thrive in them, mainly because Brennan has become the journalistic equivalent of a pitching machine stuck on underhand lobs.
The clips go viral. The bias is laid bare. CBS keeps letting her return for reasons known only to its programming executives. Maybe that’s the point—lousy PR is still PR. But eventually, someone’s going to call a TKO.
The Zinger Heard Round the Beltway
“You should watch the news.”
It’s rare for five words to capture a journalist’s implosion perfectly. But Rubio’s response did precisely that. Margaret Brennan isn’t just confused about free speech, immigration, or the Constitution—she’s baffled by the very headlines she’s hired to read and try to discuss. Somewhere, Dan Rather is muttering, “What’s the frequency, Kenneth?” In this case, with Brennan, the frequency is every week.
CBS can keep her. UVA can claim her. The rest of us? We’ll keep watching the clips, cringing at the face-plants, and maybe—just maybe—mailing sympathy cards to Charlottesville.
Wahoo?
Charlton Allen is an attorney, former chief executive officer, and chief judicial officer of the North Carolina Industrial Commission. He is the founder of the Madison Center for Law & Liberty, Inc., editor of The American Salient, and the host of the Modern Federalist podcast. X: @CharltonAllenNC
Image from X.
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