Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., defended the indefensible last week during a Spanish-language interview in which he downplayed Donald Trump’s comments about immigrants’ “poisoning the blood” of the U.S.
Trump’s statements were widely condemned for their hatefulness and their resemblance to remarks that Adolf Hitler and his Nazi followers made about Jews during the Holocaust. Rubio’s excusing them shows how Republicans are increasingly trying to drive a wedge in ethnic communities by pitting members of these communities against immigrants.
Julio Ricardo Varela wrote about this trend for MSNBC last week, and Rubio’s interview is a prime example. When Noticias Telemundo interviewer Julio Vaqueiro questioned the senator about Trump’s “poisoning the blood” remarks and Latino immigrants, Rubio denied they were racist or harmful to Trump’s effort to sway Latino voters.
According to an English translation provided by the network, Rubio replied:
To begin with, I think he speaks that way and in that manner. There’ve been Hispanics in his Cabinet, or rather, on his staff. As the press mentions, he’s considering one as his vice presidential running mate. He’s had very strong ties to the community. Second, it’s a mistake to think that the immigration that’s coming into this country is only from Latin America. It’s from all over the world. I believe that when he speaks that way, what he’s saying is that this is a danger to the country.
Rubio went on to claim that the former president wasn’t speaking in an “ethnic or racial way,” even though Trump’s fearmongering about immigrants who speak foreign languages shows clear ethnic or racial discrimination.
Rubio added:
That’s a saying that he uses, but it has nothing to do with race, because in the end, he’s talking about the country, not the population. The country is threatened by this influx of people, which we now know even includes criminals and terrorists.
In reality, recent data shows that immigrants are less likely to commit crime than people born in the U.S. With their eyes on the 2024 elections, some Republicans seem eager to pit ethnic and racial groups against one another. Trump demonstrated this during a campaign stop in Detroit over the weekend. Speaking at a Black church — which images suggest was primarily filled with white Trump supporters — the former president said Black voters are suffering from “an invasion of your jobs” by immigrants who are “taking away your jobs when they pour in.” Such claims have been debunked for years. But Trump and his supporters continue to push them, fueling propaganda about zero-sum politics that can be used to chip away at Democratic support among blocs — such as Black voters and Latino voters — that have traditionally thrown much of their support behind liberals. Rubio’s attempt to downplay these remarks shows he knows how bad they really are.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. Recommended
