Marco Rubio stands, delivers on Donald Trump’s “dangerous style of leadership”

rubio, marco - prompter

In the closing days of the Florida Primary campaign, Marco Rubio feels increasingly emboldened to deliver real talk about the violence at Donald Trump rallies.

“I think it is sad all the way around. To see these images. It clearly, there’s some level of ethnic and racial divide in how this is playing out on television. I just think it reflects very poorly on our country. I think it’s sad all the way around tonight, I really do. I’m very sad for our country,” Rubio said early in his Friday night segment on the Megyn Kelly show.

Without directly naming the Trump demographic, Rubio eventually described the Trump appeal better than anyone in the GOP race so far.

“Look, one of the appeals of Donald Trump, I believe, is that he says what a lot of people wish they could say, but it’s not politically correct to say, or it’s not polite to say, and he says it, he says it on a big platform and people love it, it’s cathartic. The problem is that when you’re going to be President of the United States or when you’re running for President or when you are president, you can’t just say whatever you want, these words have real consequences,” Rubio said.

Soon after that, Rubio expanded further on this theme.

“I am saying he does bear responsibility for some of the other things that have happened at his events, including people being punched in the face, allegedly a reporter also being roughed up the other day. I think there’s blame to go around here and I think it reflects – we are entering a kind of very disturbing moment in our political discourse in this country that is reaching a boiling point that I believe has very significant repercussions, not just for this election,” Rubio said, “but for the future of this country.”

Rubio went on to add that “there’s real significant anger and frustration at the direction of our country. People feel every major institution has let them down. The media, academia, organized religion, the political parties, the political process. People are hurting, and they’re upset, and they’re angry, and I think it’s the job of leaders not to stoke that anger, but to use that anger and channel it in a way that allows us to reach solutions.”

Rubio amplified these comments Saturday in a presser in Largo, saying that he didn’t know if he could support Trump as the GOP nominee (“I still at this moment intend to support the Republican nominee, but … it’s getting harder every day), and accusing Trump of stoking the “anger” of his supporters.

Rubio showed a precision and clarity about the Trump “dangerous style of leadership,” noting that while a number of factors converged to make the protests of the left happen, Trump is ultimately responsible, the linchpin for a movement that could see the country devolve further into “chaos and anarchy.”

“This is what happens when a leading presidential candidate goes around feeding into a narrative of bitterness and anger and frustration,” Rubio said, ironically channeling Barack Obama descriptions of some GOP voters as “bitter” and “clinging to guns and religion.”

“In many ways, he doesn’t want to say anything to his supporters because he doesn’t want to turn them off.”

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


One comment

  • Seniors

    March 13, 2016 at 10:55 am

    TRUMP is now being confronted by Corrupt Elitist Government individuals at the highest levels who are actively participating in covert plans sending bought and paid for protesters to attend and riot at TRUMP rallies. Their corrupt elitist controlled puppet politicians then read their prepared scripts blaming TRUMP for their paid for riots.

    Now Obama has chosen to spending his last few month in office participating in and supporting these corrupt activities. Obama is now dividing Americans and fueling civil unrest and riots. He just can’t help himself. His personal hatred for TRUMP has taken control. So much for Obama staying neutral! Now who isn’t acting very presidential! The final straw to ALL Americans is Obama’s chosen participation!

    This is a sad day for America and ALL Americans. The Republic and Democratic Parties and now Obama as President of the United States are actively participating in dividing Americans and inciting riots, not TRUMP.

    It is now clear to ALL Informed American Voters that this corruption goes all the way up to the White House. The writing is on the wall, one doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to get this! The only way and the right way out of this political nightmare for America and ALL Americans is for the guilty to own up to their corrupt actions, apologize publically and insist that their supporters stop these criminal activities immediately. Considering the superiority complex of these corrupt elitist individuals the odds are slim to none that this will ever happen. Today the old-boys club is killing AMERICA for ALL AMERICANS.

    So now what, it’s up to the every American voter to individually send letters demanding public apologies are made by them ASAP. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE NOW!! Can they ever be made to think about America first and not themselves first! They must be made to understand that if they refuse to act they will be forfeiting the presidency to the only honest politician there is, TRUMP.

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