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U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Mornings with Maria to discuss the origins of COVID and the U.S.-China relationship. See below for highlights and watch the full interview on YouTube and Rumble.

On the FBI’s conclusion that the COVID virus escaped from a Wuhan lab:

“It’s interesting that all the same people who tell us we have to listen to the FBI when they were talking about Russia interfering in our elections and helping Trump, or when they raid a property, or when they do anything that targets someone that is on the right-of-center—those are the same people who are now saying don’t pay attention to the FBI when it comes to the Wuhan lab. 

“This is all going to be circumstantial evidence. It’s doubtful we’ll ever have a smoking gun, because China is a closed society. They’re not going to put that stuff out there. But all the circumstantial evidence, and there is a mountain of it, points to some accident at that lab. 

“I share the assessment of the FBI director, which has been the Bureau’s position for a long time, by the way. They were messing around with viruses, trying to predict how that virus could become infectious in humans so they could come up with a vaccine. Someone messing around with it got infected. That lab has a long history of all kinds of problems. That person got infected, they went out, they infected more people. 

“There’s a mountain of circumstantial evidence, from people getting infected well before the date that China acknowledges to the way they handled it afterwards. 

“Understand, in totalitarian regimes like China’s, if you’re the director of the lab, you don’t get promoted, you don’t get a bonus, you don’t get hailed as a hero if you make that phone call to Beijing and say, ‘We have a problem here.’ You get demoted, you get fired, you disappear. 

“That’s the leading theory and the one that I think has the most evidence behind it at this point.”

On whether the COVID virus was an escaped bioweapon:

“That is the one theory that I don’t think we have any circumstantial evidence for. What all the arrows point to is their messing around with this stuff. ‘This virus is only infectious in animals, but we are going to try to predict how it could become infectious in humans. We’re going to make it infectious in humans so we can develop a vaccine.’ But the person doing it gets infected, and then they take it out into the world.”

On corporate America’s addiction to China:

“The biggest danger we face is not China. The biggest danger we face is the decision made by politicians in this country to put the interests of the global market and global free trade ahead of the interest of the United States of America and the American people. That continues to this day. 

“That’s why you see behavior like this on outbound investment. ‘We’re going to have more transparency.’ These companies, these investment funds that you point to—which is close to $2 trillion of American investment—are funding the development of military equipment designed to kill American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines. 

“The biggest danger here is that they can make real money on that. And they don’t care about the disclosure. It’s a risk they’re willing to run, because the return on investment is so high, and the short-term profits are so high. But it does tremendous damage to our national interest.”

On the Biden Administration’s inability to cut economic ties with China:

“These people are powerful. The interest of Wall Street, the interest of the investment class in this country that has investments in China, is very powerful. They have real influence. 

“All you have to do is look at the donation records from Wall Street, from the finance sector. It flows, despite how people may perceive it, heavily towards the Democratic Party. But they invest in both sides. 

“And this is exactly why they march up here. They say, ‘If you do this, it’s going to hurt the economy, it’s going to hurt the stock market, it’s going to hurt economic performance in the short term, and it’s going to reflect badly on you.’ 

“I think the Biden Administration is trying to balance keeping these people happy with what’s right for the country. You can’t balance those two things. They’re in direct conflict.”

On China’s acquisition of U.S. farmland:

“Why are they interested in American farmland? Because it’s consolidating, because it’s expensive to be in farming these days because of all these rules and regulations. But why do they really want it? Because they understand that in a time of conflict, that in a time of crisis, that in a time of pandemic, what really matters is can you feed yourself? Can you fuel yourself with oil and gas? Can you make things? 

“Those are the things that matter. Those are the things that are durable and resilient in an economy. And that’s what China and Russia dominate. The Russian economy is built on oil, gas, fertilizer, and grains. The Chinese economy is built on industrial capacity and the mines and farmland they own around the world. And what are we increasingly building our economy on? Services, movies, and social media influencers. 

“None of that’s going to matter. Conflict is coming. I hate to say it, but there’s an authoritarian block rising in the world of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, and the United States and the free world have an economy that’s very vulnerable to coercion.”

On the possibility of conflict between the U.S. and China:

“Conflict is here. The question is whether the conflict becomes military conflict or armed conflict. But conflicts are already here. It’s happening every day in embassies around the world, it’s happening every day here at home. Conflict is already here. 

“Our hope is to create a geopolitical balance that protects our rights and prevents a war. But the history of human nature tells us these things sometimes get out of control. I hope I’m wrong about that.”

On whether Rubio would revoke China’s Most Favored Nation status:

“Absolutely. They don’t play by any of the rules. We allowed them to basically do anything they wanted. We opened up our markets and said Chinese companies can do whatever they want in America. But we allowed them to restrict us over there. And we did it under this theory that when they got rich, they’d become just like us. Well, they got rich, and they’re not like us, and they don’t share our values. They don’t share our commitment to playing by the rules.”

On when Communist China will invade Taiwan:

“Xi doesn’t want to leave office or die without doing something about it. This is such an important part of his legacy that I don’t know how we can finish this decade without him trying to do something there. 

“Our hope is to raise the cost so high that he chooses not to do it, by helping the Taiwanese turn into a porcupine, something very painful to swallow and difficult to digest.”