Marco Rubio Dismisses Criticism of Sharing Zelenskyy Zoom Call Image: ‘There Was No Security Risk’

On ABC’s This Week, Sen. Marco Rubio dismissed criticism directed at him, mostly on Twitter, for sharing a screenshot during a Zoom call between American lawmakers and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying that there “was no security risk.”

On Saturday, Rubio and fellow Republican Steve Daines faced an onslaught of Twitter backlash from liberal voices after they each shared screenshots of Zelenskyy during a Zoom call, after the participants were asked not to do so until after the call ended.

The call was widely reported before it began and participants were tweeting about their participation. Host George Stephanopoulos asked Rubio about the backlash to him including a screenshot with his tweets.

“You’re facing some criticism from fellow legislators for tweeting out a picture of President Zelenskyy during his Zoom with Congress yesterday,” said Stephanopoulos. “The ambassador asked members not to do that because it would endanger Zelenskyy. Why did you ignore that request?”

“Well first of all, she said that well into the call,” said Rubio of that reported warning from the Ukrainian ambassador. “Second, there is no security risk in that at all.”

“Perhaps she was under the impression that the Zoom call was a secret. It had been broadly reported. Like, multiple outlets, maybe even ABC had tweeted it was at 9:30,” said Rubio. “There were over 300 people on this call. The details of the call were emailed to a bunch of people. And it was a nondescript picture, unlike any of the other one– just like the other ones you’ve seen on the air. So there was no security risk there.”

“You don’t believe you put him at risk?” asked Stephanopoulos.

“No,” Rubio answered flatly.

Watch the clip above, via ABC News.