Rubio takes on 'soulless global bureaucrats' and the ICC: 'Stop quoting laws to men with swords'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is using a Friday speech to the Federalist Society to go after what he calls "soulless global bureaucrats" who use the "rules-based order" to undermine U.S. foreign policy, warning that the "spirit of Marx" outlived the Soviet Union, according to excerpts obtained by Fox News Digital.

"For this global elite, 'international law' is not a neutral body of rules," Rubio is expected to say at the group's National Lawyers Convention. "It's an instrument to advance their interests under the pretense of universal principles. They're staunch defenders of democracy, until a particular election challenges their interests."

"Even as we defeated the institution of Soviet communism, we did not triumph over the spirit of Marx," the excerpts read. "Marxism, in its traditional expression, sought to abolish the distinctions between men; the radicals of our time seek to abolish the distinctions between nations themselves."

Rubio is set to defend the administration's sanctions on the International Criminal Court, which he calls "an unelected world tribunal." If it tries to enforce its "paper decrees" against Americans, he plans to answer with the words of the Roman general Pompey: "Stop quoting laws to men with swords." He will also push back on claims that Americans live on "stolen land," saying the idea denies the nation's right to exist.

The remarks come a week after Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed called the U.S. the "chief violator" of the international order it built. Fox News Digital noted the excerpts may change in delivery.