Senator Marco Rubio fits the prototypical definition of an establishment Republican. He sticks so hard to the conservative stance on issues like abortion that he’s willing to upset Floridians by saying Zika-infected women shouldn’t be allowed to have abortions. That’s one reason why it’s notable that he’s pulling away from Republican giddiness surrounding WikiLeaks’ near-daily dumpings of Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta’s emails.
These emails dumpings have resulted in much delight from both mainstream Republicans and the Alt-Right (which has been fueled by Donald Trump), but Rubio has issued a warning. He’s reminding his fellow Republicans that this isn’t all fun and games, and it’s time to stop celebrating an attack on their opponents. Rubio tells ABC News that to “capitalize politically” will bite the GOP when their dirt inevitably surfaces:
“As our intelligence agencies have said, these leaks are an effort by a foreign government to interfere with our electoral process and I will not indulge it. Further, I want to warn my fellow Republicans who may want to capitalize politically on these leaks: Today it is the Democrats. Tomorrow it could be us. I will not discuss any issue that has become public solely on the basis of Wikileaks.”
Oh, you know there’s some embarrassing emails out there between Republicans (including Paul Ryan and other Congresspeople). Donald Trump’s server security is apparently nonexistent, and that’s only the beginning. At this point, no one would be surprised by what’s probably a bunch of frat-boy exchanges in Trump’s emails. But if a full-on GOP email dump occurs, that could be the last straw that irrevocably fractures the party.
Most remarkably here, Rubio’s taking a stand that may not be popular with his party. But he’s correct. Republicans’ voracious devouring of Podesta emails sets a dangerous precedent, not only where Russian ties are concerned but also when it comes to any sort of bipartisan cooperation.
(Via ABC News)
