Sec. of State is Ready After CBS Host Presses on Maduro Op Limits [WATCH]

Margaret Brennan came in with a question. Marco Rubio came back with a blunt one-liner.

The Secretary of State lit into the CBS host on Sunday after she questioned why the Trump Administration captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife, but left other indicted regime figures in place.

“I’m curious because you just described the regime as still in place, essentially. I’m curious why the Trump Administration decided to leave it intact and only arrest Nicolás Maduro and his wife,” Brennan said Sunday on Face the Nation.

After listing a series of indicted regime affiliates still in place, Brennan added, “I’m confused. Are they still wanted by the United States? Why didn’t you arrest them if you are taking out the narco-terrorist regime?”

Rubio didn’t blink: “You’re confused? I don’t know why that’s confusing to you.”

Brennan protested that they were still in power.

“Yeah, but you’re going to go in and suck up five people? They are already complaining about this one operation. Imagine the howls we would have from everybody else if we actually had to go and stay there four days to capture four other people,” Rubio said.

“We got the top priority. The number one person on the list was the guy who claimed to be the president of the country that he was not, and he was arrested, along with his wife, who is also indicted. And that was a pretty sophisticated and, frankly, complicated operation,” he added.

“It was,” Brennan agreed.

Rubio then walked viewers through what he called the sheer difficulty of the operation — and why “why didn’t you also do five more?” is the wrong question.

“That’s not an easy mission, and you’re asking me why didn’t we do that at five other places at the same time? I mean, that’s absurd,” he added.

The Trump administration captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a limited nighttime operation on Jan. 3 and transported the two to U.S. custody, where federal prosecutors have brought criminal charges against them, officials said.

Watch the clip above.