Rubio Leads International Summit on Far-Left Political Terrorism

The State Department held a ministerial on Thursday attended by roughly 65 countries addressing what the Trump administration is calling a resurgence of far-left political terrorism.

Opening Speech: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that violent far-left political terrorism "can no longer be denied," and that it is "a poisonous resentment cloaked in the language of equality and justice." In the US, according to Rubio, "we face a new wave of this old evil," and "the share of left-wing terrorist attacks and plots has risen to levels not seen in decades." Rubio asserted that "It's time for people of the civilized world to defend themselves," adding that "You are here because this is real, and it is getting worse, and it can no longer be denied, and it can no longer be ignored."

Absent Entirely: Outlets on the left, like MS Now (Left bias) and CNN (Lean Left) tended to highlight what the MS Now article called "concerns that President Donald Trump is expanding a crackdown on left-wing groups." MS Now also mentioned that the summit followed Trump's counterterrorism strategy that was released in May, saying the strategy "excluded any mention of far-right violence." CNN echoed this sentiment, saying far-right terrorism was "absent entirely" from the strategy, and that "multiple former officials said the issue has been politicized by the [Trump] administration."

Entire World On Notice: Outlets on the right like Fox News (Right) and Newsmax (Right) tended more towards highlighting Rubio's statements and providing examples of recent attacks in Europe that officials argue "underscore the need for greater international cooperation." The Fox News article highlighted administration officials saying that "violent far-left extremism networks have become a growing cross-border threat," and that Rubio has put the "entire world on notice against rise of 'poisonous' far-left terror 'masked as equality.'"

Related: Trump Designates Antifa as 'Major Terrorist Organization' 

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