Republican Marco Rubio is branding his 2016 presidential candidacy with hawkish foreign policy cred. So guess what Megyn Kelly helped to highlight during her interview with Rubio last night?

The pretext for this infomercial was another Fox News exploitation of the death of American aid worker Kayle Mueller.

Kelly claimed that reports that ISIS had proposed a prisoner swap for Mueller “are raising new questions” that the prisoner swap of Taliban prisoners for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl “set a bad precedent.” Not that Kelly offered anything like evidence that the two incidents were connected.

In fact, it seems like the bad precedent “question” came directly from Republicans, if not Rubio, himself.

Kelly’s first question to Rubio was, “Do you believe that we have set some sort of a precedent that the United States is willing to engage in a prisoner swap with our terrorist enemies?”

“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” Rubio said. “We said at the time that that swap …would now put a price tag on the head of every American abroad.” He claimed that that was now one of the reasons ISIS is looking for new prisoners. “There’s no doubt in my mind that that prisoner swap has created that incentive.”

After exploring Rubio’s concerns about President Obama’s proposed Authorization to Use Military Force against ISIS, Kelly changed the subject to Iran. First, she contemptuously noted contradictory comments among Secretary of State John Kerry and the State Department spokesperson. “Do you think that our government is serious about this March deadline on Iran?” The tone in Kelly’s voice left no doubt what she thought.

It was another perfect opportunity for Rubio to show off his hawkishness. He claimed the Iranians sense the Obama administration is “desperate for a deal” and are taking advantage of it.

“So what’s this about for Barack Obama?” Kelly asked, as if Rubio would be at all part of the Obama administration’s inner circle. “Because his critics say this is just political cover.” For “balance,” Kelly said she thought that would be awfully cynical. But while giving herself that cover, she had also deliberately opened the door for Rubio to take shots at Obama.

Kelly also brought up Obama’s comments at the National Prayer Breakfast. “Your thoughts on the president choosing the National Prayer Breakfast for that kind of a message,” she said.

Kelly closed with a hearty, “Senator Marco Rubio, great to see you.” Just in case anyone didn’t get the message that this is a guy to like.