US secretary of state Marco Rubio sparked laughter during Tuesday’s International Women of Courage Award ceremony by joking that director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was “probably spying somewhere” after she missed the event.
As per The Mirror, Rubio’s remark came amid discussions about Gabbard’s recent Senate Intelligence Committee hearing regarding the “Signalgate” scandal.
Rubio made the comment while acknowledging officials from US President Donald Trump’s cabinet, including attorney general Pam Bondi, secretary of small business Kelly Loeffler, secretary of education Linda McMahon and secretary of labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
“We’re missing Tulsi Gabbard, because she’s probably spying somewhere right now,” Rubio quipped, drawing chuckles from the audience.
Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman now serving as the US intelligence chief, recently appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee over allegations that senior Trump officials, including the secretary of defense, discussed war plans over the encrypted messaging app Signal.
During a Senate hearing, Senator Mark Warner pressed Gabbard about her possible role in the chat. “Director Gabbard, did you participate in the group chat with the secretary of defense and other Trump senior officials discussing the Yemen war plans?” Warner asked.
“Uh, Senator, I don’t want to get into the specific,” Gabbard responded, before Warner interrupted: “You were not ‘TG’ on this group chat?” Gabbard declined to confirm or deny, citing an ongoing National Security Council review.
As per The Mirror, CIA director John Ratcliffe later admitted he was part of the Signal chat and defended the practice, stating that using the app was permissible under Biden-era policies as long as key decisions were formally recorded.
However, Warner pushed back, demanding that the messages be disclosed. “If there was no classified material, share it with the committee! You can’t have it both ways,” he argued.
Rubio, meanwhile, faced separate tensions with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. After Rubio warned of a “very bad day” for Venezuela due to a security agreement he signed with Guyana, Maduro lashed out, calling Rubio an “imbecile.” “The imbecile Marco Rubio comes out threatening Venezuela from Guyana,” Maduro said at an event, insisting Venezuela could not be intimidated.
While the intelligence discussions continued, the International Women of Courage Award ceremony, where Rubio made his remarks, was led by First Lady Melania Trump. As per AP, she praised eight honourees for their bravery, including Israeli lawyer Amit Soussana, who survived 55 days in Hamas captivity. “Every single day that passes is another day of unimaginable suffering,” Soussana said, urging the world to act.
Now in its 19th year, the award recognizes women from around the world for exceptional leadership, courage, and advocacy, often at great personal risk. More than 200 women from over 90 countries have been honoured since its inception in 2007.
