Nicolle Wallace: Trump Turned Rubio Into a 'Jackass,' 'Loser' Despite Praise for His Briefing

In one universe — the one inhabited by Nicolle Wallace and her Deadline White House on MS NOW— Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s lengthy, high-energy White House press briefing was an embarrassing disaster. Within 90 minutes, President Trump supposedly turned him into a “liar or fool,” a “jackass,” and the “loser of the day.”

In the universe the rest of America watched, Rubio delivered a commanding, substantive, and at times inspirational performance that drew praise across the board for its policy depth, wit, and poise.

This is the latest example of liberal media’s parallel reality—one where routine Trump administration policy adjustments are spun as humiliating clown shows, and competent conservative officials are preemptively torn down.

On May 5, 2026, Rubio stepped into the White House briefing room (standing in for Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt) and held court for more than 50 minutes. Rubio fielded questions in multiple languages, mixed in humor, navigated complex policy topics, and closed with an optimistic vision of America’s role in the world and hope for the country.

Even The Hill noted that on Iran, Rubio “sounded presidential.” Multiple outlets and observers highlighted how he commanded the room with clear, firm answers, balanced tone, and engaging delivery.

Just one day later, on May 6, host Nicolle Wallace and MS NOW analyst Tim Miller offered an entirely different take on the very same event.

Here are some of the lowlights from the transcript:

Wallace: “Within ninety minutes, Trump undercut and turned Rubio into a liar or fool... It did not take Donald Trump ninety minutes to render him a jackass... Marco Rubio is the loser of the day.”

Wallace: “What is Marco Rubio’s calculation today if Trump asks him to go do it again tomorrow?”

Miller: “He’ll do it. If Trump asked him to bark, he’s gonna woof [Wallace found that hilarious: see screencap.] That’s the deal. And it’s humiliating. I think he’s enjoying it. People can take from that what they want.”

Miller went further, dismissing Rubio’s rising profile as the potential MAGA “heir apparent” and betting against his long-term prospects. The segment featured heavy personal mockery of Rubio, including Miller’s strange suggestion that Rubio was somehow deriving enjoyment from the supposed humiliation — a bizarre bit of armchair psychoanalysis that painted the Secretary of State as something of a masochist.

What prompted the mockery? Hours after Rubio’s briefing, President Trump announced a short pause in Project Freedom operations, citing “great progress” toward a potential deal with Iran. The blockade remained in place. This is standard foreign policy fluidity — adjust when leverage produces results.

The intensity of the mockery raises the question: are some on the left already viewing Rubio as a potential 2028 threat? After years spent trying to kneecap JD Vance, some in the liberal media appear to have shifted targets. Looks like MS NOW has gone into preemptive attack mode.

In the real world, Rubio’s briefing earned praise for substance and presidential poise. In the MS NOW bubble, it was an instant humiliation worthy of juvenile insults. Readers can judge for themselves which universe is detached from reality.

Here's the transcript.

MS NOW
Deadline White House
5/6/26
4:27 pm EDT

NICOLLE WALLACE: Ostensibly, a journalist covering the war would think that Marco Rubio or Pete Hegseth were, actually, Hegseth is a different example, let's stick with Rubio, a credible source. I mean, certainly both the turnout and the length of the press conference would suggest that the press was there consuming information they thought was credible. 

Within ninety minutes, Trump undercut and turned Rubio into a liar or fool.

. . . 

Tim Miller, Marco Rubio has two jobs. He is the country's Secretary of State. He's also Donald Trump's National Security Advisor. Marco Rubio would like to be set apart from the clown show. He would like to be taken seriously, and all things are relative. Maybe some people view him as a part, I don't know. But Marco Rubio is the loser of the day.

Marco Rubio stood before at least five, six dozen journalists for an on-camera briefing yesterday. He seemed to enjoy it. He stayed a long time. He, like, picked up energy. You saw him going to reporters more quickly and more comfortably, a lot of pointing. 

He acted, and again, I don't know what's in his mind, he acted like he had authority to say the things he said, and it did not take Donald Trump ninety minutes to render him a jackass, to go back on what he was sent out there to say, to contradict him, and to make a fool of him.

Now, I have no dog in the fight in terms of who takes over MAGA. But what is Marco Rubio's calculation today if Trump asks him to go do it again tomorrow?

TIM MILLER: Well, he'll do it [Wallace bursts out laughing.] You know, if Trump asked him to bark, he's gonna woof. That's the deal. And it's humiliating. It's humiliating, but I think he's enjoying it. People can take from that what they want.

But I agree with you --

WALLACE: But nobody believes him. 

MILLER: Yeah, I think that, because it's such a clown show around him, I think that people in his circle think, think him credible. And I know that that seems crazy to us, you know, if you're a journalist that is looking at this, or just a viewer, and you're like, "The guy went out there and said that we're pushing forward on Project Freedom, and then two hours later we stopped," like, "He has no juice." That's obviously the objective thing.

But I think that a lot of people who are either supporters of the war or supporters of Trump are looking around at the other people in the administration, and they're like: well, Trump might have pulled the rug out from under this guy, but at least he's borderline competent. 

And that's why you're getting a lot of buzz for Marco now being the heir apparent. And I just, I'm a single person, I'm just a pundit, so mark this down for whatever you want, but I'm against the conventional wisdom on this entirely. 

He's making a bet that being the competent Mr. Fix-it for Trump is going to pay off for him. I'm glad he's enjoying hiself now, because I don't really see it working out for him in the future. But we'll see.