A top acting State Department official deleted at least half a dozen tweets that ridiculed his now boss, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, including ones calling him "low IQ" and repeating a false rumor about Rubio's sexuality. The deleted tweets from Darren Beattie, the acting under secretary of state for public diplomacy, were uncovered as part of a CNN review of his social media and include a mixture of insults and harsh attacks against Rubio. Though Beattie left up several of his most inflammatory posts, he does appear to have purged criticism of Rubio from his feed. Beattie deleted tweets suggesting a deep hostility toward Rubio " particularly after the then-senator voted to certify the 2020 election results and condemned the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. One deleted tweet also attacked Rubio for criticizing possible Russian actions in Ukraine.