President Obama: Marco Rubio's "Willing To Be Anybody Just To Be Somebody"

President Obama, En Route To Miami (Photo: The White House)

On Thursday, President Obama came to Florida to rally on behalf of Patrick Murphy, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, and as he toured the state, he delivered a well-deserved, blistering take down of Marco Rubio, his hypocrisy, his endless pandering, and his continued support of Donald Trump.

It was a thing of beauty.

He also delivered a dose of reality on how the Republican Party created Trump, and targeted the danger of Trump's rhetoric, his talk of "rigged elections," and especially Trump's claims that he may not accept the results of the election should voters choose Hillary Clinton.

Among the highlights:

On Rubio's support of Trump:

“I'm even more confused by Republican politicians who still support Donald Trump,” Obama said. “Marco Rubio is one of those people. How does that work? How can you call him a ‘con artist’ and ‘dangerous’ and object to all the controversial things he says and then say, ‘But I'm still gonna vote for him?' C'mon, man!”

“You know what that is, though? It is the height of cynicism,” he said. “That's the sign of someone who will say anything, do anything, pretend to be anybody just to get elected. And you know what? If you're willing to be anybody just to be somebody, then you don't have the leadership that Florida needs in the United States Senate.”

 

More on Rubio and Trump:

 

"I agree with the U.S. senator, a Republican, who a while back said that we can't afford to give the nuclear codes of the United States to an erratic individual," Obama said to cheers from the crowd. "By the way, you know who said that? Marco Rubio!"

 

Obama cited Rubio's comments from February, when he called Trump a "con artist."

"Say it again!" an attendee shouted.

"Do you want me to say it again?" Obama asked. "He said, Marco Rubio said, this was a dangerous con artist who spent a lifetime, spent a career, sticking it to working people! Now that begs the question, since we're in Florida: why does Marco Rubio still plan to vote for Donald Trump?"

More on Rubio's refusal to condemn Trump:

"He's refuting the dangerous and unprecedented claims of a candidate he says he's still going to vote for!" Obama said. "Which just gives you one more bit of proof that Marco seems to just care about hanging onto his job."

"Progress is on the ballot. Stability is on the ballot. Tolerance is on the ballot. Justice is on the ballot. Equality is on the ballot. Our democracy is on the ballot. Hillary Clinton will advance those things," Obama said. "Donald Trump wants to reverse progress. Marco Rubio wants to help him."

On Rubio's climate change denial:

 

“Just the other night in the debate, Marco Rubio did not accept that sea level’s rising. If you are watching TV or you are going down some of the blocks right here in Miami, in the middle of a sunny day you see ocean coming up through streets. How can you deny what is right in front of you?”

 

On Rubio, Republicans, Trump, and immigration:

 

“Where were you when your party's nominee called immigrants murderers and rapists?”

 

On Rubio's Democratic opponent, Patrick Murphy:

 

“Patrick Murphy, when he is your United States senator, he is going to be doing his work. In fact, unlike his opponent, he shows up to work,” Obama said. “Unlike his opponent, he didn’t walk away from Florida’s Hispanic community when the politics got tough: He fought for comprehensive immigration reform and a path of citizenship. Unlike his opponent, Patrick actually believes in science and the effects of climate change."

 

On the Republican Party and how they created a monster in Trump, who's now eating them alive:

 

"Trump didn't come out of nowhere," he said, citing the rise of Republican politicians and far-right news outlets who have promoted conspiracy theories like birtherism, the long-refuted claim that Obama was not born in the United States. 

"They've been saying crazy stuff, and there are a lot of politicians like Marco Rubio who know better, but they just look the other way," he said.

Obama blamed politicians like Rubio for encouraging far-right conspiracy theories and obstructing Democrat-backed political initiatives to gain popular support.

"They just stood by and said nothing, even though they knew better, while their base actually started believing some of this stuff," he said.

He went on to shred Republican members of Congress for standing by Trump through a flood of controversies, including his "bromance with Putin," his comments calling Mexican immigrants "criminals and rapists," and his attacks on a Gold Star family.

"I don't give a lot of credit to folks who are just now trying to walk away from Trump. Although I will say I'm even more confused by Republican politicians who still support Donald Trump." 

Meanwhile, as crowds across the state cheered at President Obama's reality check on Rubio's hypocrisy, the absentee Senator held his own campaign event, speaking to a small crowd of supporters. This version of the "somebody" Rubio pretended to be never mentioned his continued support of Trump. In fact, he didn't even mention Trump's name at all.

Go figure.