Marco Rubio was confronted over his past comments on January 6 after Donald Trump pardoned 1,500 individuals charged with crimes connected to the riot.
The new Secretary of State did not directly address Gayle King's questioning over his 2021 statement when he described how seeing images of the riot "stirred up anger in me."
When asked how he can personally reconcile those feelings after Mr Trump's pardons Mr Rubio replied: "I used to be a United States senator until midnight last night and now I'm about to be sworn in as the Secretary of State...
"I work for Donald J Trump... who has a clear mandate to reorient our foreign policy to one that once again puts America and our interests at the center."