It’s rare these days that Sen. Marco Rubio’s voice is as loud and clear as it was on Thursday when the Republican senator from Florida was asked if he’d join in the call for a ceasefire in Gaza — the incident representing a welcome change.
Rubio was confronted in the halls of Congress by the radical left anti-war group Code Pink — the self-described “feminist grassroots organization working to end U.S. warfare and imperialism” that has been oddly hushed about the war in Ukraine — and asked if he would call for a ceasefire. The senator took the extra measure to ensure he was being recorded before offering his response.
“No, I will not,” Rubio replied, “on the contrary.”
“Are you filming this? I want you guys to get this: I want them to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on. These people are vicious animals who did horrifying crimes, and I hope you guys post that,” he added, stepping right up to the person recording the exchange.
– Do you call for ceasefire?
Senator @marcorubio: “No, I want Israel to destroy every element of Hamas. They are vicious animals.”
– What about Palestinian civilians?@marcorubio: “Hamas is 100% to blame. They should stop hiding behind civilians.”
pic.twitter.com/E3iYjCnMGt— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) November 30, 2023
Seizing the moral high ground that’s seldom extended to Israel, Code Pink cofounder Medea Benjamin followed up by asking, “And what about the civilians who are being killed every day?”
“I blame Hamas. Hamas should stop hiding behind civilians, putting civilians in the way,” Rubio said. “Hamas knew that this was going to lead to this. Hamas has to stop building their military installations underneath hospitals.”
Benjamin followed up on her quest for a desired soundbite by regurgitating Hamas talking points that are frequently proven wrong: “So you don’t care that 15,000 dies? You don’t care about the babies getting killed every day?”
“Absolutely I do,” Rubio replied. “I think it’s horrifying, and I think Hamas is 100% to blame. That’s what I think, make sure you post that.”
In sharing the video footage online, Benjamin betrayed her pro-Palestinian stance: “We encountered Senator Rubio today. He wants Israel to keep bombing Gaza until ‘they destroy every element of Hamas.’ He doesn’t get it: Bombing creates MORE resistance. There will never be peace in Israel until there is justice for Palestinians.”
Not too confident that his remarks would see the light of day, Rubio took the extra step of ensuring that his message was heard loud and clear by posting an audio recording of the exchange on social media:
Destroy Hamas https://t.co/XO8rUt9GPk
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 28, 2023
Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from X, beginning with U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) sharing the footage while offering Rubio kudos:
Serious kudos to @marcorubio for unabashedly speaking the truth here. #BlameHamas https://t.co/r0dGoA5ksv
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) November 30, 2023
I especially love how unapologetically my Senator, @SenMarcoRubio looks directly into the camera in total support for Israel. Total DOMINANCE! ☺
— MaryMacElveen (@MaryMacElveen) November 30, 2023
Nice to see some still have balls across the pond.
— Scott (@ScottCJonesy) November 30, 2023
This is the Marco Rubio I remember. The grit and passion.
DC seems to steal that out of the good ones.
As a fellow 1st Cuban & Floridian I thank Marco for his conviction and tone.
We need this full throttle until Hamas is non existent.— Christine (@Christina362568) November 30, 2023
The first sane post I’ve seen today in Twitter. All I’ve seen is posts about how kind Hamas are becuase they forced the hostages to shake their hands.
Thank you @marcorubio! Thank you @DrEliDavid!— Smadar Ben-Tabou de-Leon (@smadar_de) November 30, 2023
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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