On Thursday, President Obama visited Florida to do some campaigning and proceeded to call out Senator Marco Rubio. Obama poked fun at the Florida senator’s hypocritical support of Donald Trump and his views on climate change. The president was in Florida to help campaign for Rubio’s opponent, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, who is behind in the polls.
On Monday, during a debate between Rubio and Murphy, Rubio said he would continue to support mitigation efforts but not cut carbon emissions. The state and specifically his hometown of Miami have seen a drastic rise in sea levels, but Rubio has seemed to be putting off these issues. Rubio is known for his anti-environmental views, and Obama used this as a selling point for Murphy:
“Unlike his opponent, Patrick actually believes in science and believes in the effects of climate change. Just the other night in their debate, Marco Rubio did not accept that sea levels are rising, and if you’re watching TV or you are going down some of the blocks here in Miami, in the middle of a sunny day and you see the ocean coming up through the streets, how can you deny what is right in front of you? I thought he was from Miami.”
Obama sprinkling in some of his patented dad-joke mentality is perfect for campaign season. But while Rubio was once thought to be the golden boy of the GOP, he has stumbled a bit with some of his flip-flopping attitudes. One of those issues is his support of Trump as the GOP candidate. During the primary season, Rubio and Trump traded barbs and called each other every name in the book. But when Rubio performed poorly during the primaries, even losing his home state of Florida to Trump, he decided to support Trump for the good of the Republican party. But people didn’t forget the name calling, including Obama, who reminded Florida voters about it:
“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! It is the height of cynicism. That’s the sign of somebody who will say anything, do anything, pretend to be anybody, just to get elected.”
Obama’s brash speeches keep on coming in this final year of presidency. It’ll be interesting to see if he lets go even further once leaving the White House.
(Via Politico & Think Progress)
