Marco Rubio Called Out for ‘Pathetic’ Defense of Trump Asking China to Investigate Rival
Commentators trashed Sen. Marco Rubio for his defense President Donald Trump asking China to investigate Joe Biden — with some calling the Florida Republican “pathetic.”
Rubio argued Trump was joking when he publicly called on China to investigate Biden and his family for him, saying the president was trying to get a rise out of the media. Trump made his comments about China amidst an impeachment inquiry over whether he abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden.
One commentator compared Rubio’s response to Sen. Mitt Romney’s, who actually criticized the president for calling on foreign powers to investigate a political rival.
Another noted that Trump himself has said he is not joking, insisted he is interested in dealing with “corruption” while calling for investigations of the family of a particular person who is running for president against him.
Every Republican I talked to last night mentioned Rubio as someone who would face difficulty defending the China comment from potus https://t.co/iSXrXeehby
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 4, 2019
The cartwheels you have to do when you’re an apologist watching the president take an impeachable action and make an impeachable threat on national TV.
You say it’s not “real.”pic.twitter.com/CBmPrTwJLT
— Tim O’Brien (@TimOBrien) October 4, 2019
Compare this to Romney’s forthrightness https://t.co/PeiuRVuWWv
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 4, 2019
It seems that Senator Rubio, who has such a respectable history of fighting for freedom abroad, has little interest in freedom in America. Inviting China to interfere in our elections now is just as much of a “joke” as “Russia, if you’re listening…” was in 2016 and he knows it. https://t.co/50tWTf7Sl9
— Evan McMullin (@EvanMcMullin) October 4, 2019
Rubio dodges question about Trump’s request for China to investigate Bidens and blames press for reason Trump said it. https://t.co/ZiG5W7OIov
— Laura Barrón-López (@lbarronlopez) October 4, 2019
Rubio explaining away Trump’s China comments by… blaming the media https://t.co/IAdsPqJgih
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) October 4, 2019
Self-parodic @marcorubio says Trump was just “needling the press” when he asked China to investigate the Bidens (despite tons of evidence that it was a relentless, worldwide covert campaign.) Remember when this silly little man was the “future of the Republican party?” LOL. https://t.co/Q0Y0V5giMU
— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) October 4, 2019
Rubio with the “he’s just kidding” approach https://t.co/pu2TAYNshW
— Nick Riccardi (@NickRiccardi) October 4, 2019
One of history’s greatest cowards, @marcorubio everyone. https://t.co/sQsquUzztl
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) October 4, 2019
“I don’t think it’s a real request,” Rubio says of the president standing on the South Lawn and calling for China to investigate the Bidens. https://t.co/Gcfh9bMWmg
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) October 4, 2019
It’s apparently the media’s fault for paying attention to the actual words of the most powerful man in the world. https://t.co/4bUT5IRBBy
— David French (@DavidAFrench) October 4, 2019
This is unbelievably disingenuous and cowardly answer by @marcorubio
Rubio says Trump WASN’T BEING SERIOUS when he asked China to investigate the Bidens — he was just needling the press.
That’s absurd.
Trump asked the same thing of the president of Ukraine in private! https://t.co/rHKAvoFwHx
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) October 4, 2019
Ah, @marcorubio isn’t mad. He’s laughing actually. https://t.co/7TQ2vlrSLb
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) October 4, 2019
Compare this to Romney’s forthrightness https://t.co/PeiuRVuWWv
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 4, 2019
The cartwheels you have to do when you’re an apologist watching the president take an impeachable action and make an impeachable threat on national TV.
You say it’s not “real.”pic.twitter.com/CBmPrTwJLT
— Tim O’Brien (@TimOBrien) October 4, 2019
Here, Rubio blames the media for the president’s actions and behavior. https://t.co/1gwOBjJzq4
— Dan Zak (@MrDanZak) October 4, 2019
He didn’t do it, fake news, but it’s okay that he did it, actually, it’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with it, but he didn’t do it, and he was just kidding, actually, he was JOKING, so YOU’RE the idiots for caring, but there’s nothing wrong with doing it, it’s actually perfect. https://t.co/euSZTYVZn5
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) October 4, 2019
The most amazing thing about this clip is that even Trump won’t stoop to an excuse this lame. He’s not claiming he was trolling yesterday, he’s claiming that he’s sincerely interested in punishing corruption https://t.co/KhmVzcPv7W
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) October 4, 2019
This is a pathetic defense of a pathetic president by a pathetic senator (@marcorubio) https://t.co/qq4Iph0bXY
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) October 4, 2019
