Sen. Marco Rubio: Capitol violence was the result of media bias, Big Tech censorship, and lies from President Trump
'We need to reflect on why this has happend, because this country needs a viable and attractive alternative to the agenda of the radical left'
In a video message posted Friday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) forcefully condemned the violence that took place in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday while calling out the hypocrisy of the left and legacy media, which throughout last year downplayed violent riots in American cities as "peaceful protests" for racial justice.
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"The events that we saw this week should sicken every one of us. Mob violence of the kind that you see in third world countries happened not just in America, but in your Capitol building. I don't care what hat they wear, I don't care what banner they're carrying, riots should be rejected by everyone every single time," Rubio said in his video statement.
https://t.co/61TGMPJz0i
— Marco Rubio (@Marco Rubio)1610111752.0
On Wednesday, tens of thousands of Trump supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., to protest the certification of the Electoral College results in Congress, which officially made Joe Biden president-elect. An initially peaceful protest turned into mob violence after some of the protesters led the crowd to lay siege on the Capitol. Police officers were assaulted, government property was damaged by the trespassers, and offices in the Capitol were ransacked as the mob ran wild. One woman was fatally shot by Capitol Police and three other members of the mob died of medical complications during the incident. A Capitol Police officer who was violently beaten by rioters wielding a fire extinguisher later died of his injuries.
News media headlines about the incident called it a "riot," a "siege," or even an "insurrection."
Without making excuses for the violence this week, Rubio accused the media and the left of engaging in hypocrisy for being quick to condemn the riot by Trump supporters but slow to do so for mob violence at Black Lives Matter protests throughout last year.
"Now are the left hypocrites? Absolutely," Rubio said. "I remember what they now are calling 'insurrection,' they were justifying just this summer. They called it 'the language of the unheard' when rioters were burning cities. Is the mainstream media, especially places like CNN and MSNBC outrageously biased? Of course, 100%. I remember one of the CNN hosts last summer on the air saying something like, 'tell me where it says protests need to be polite and peaceful.'"
Rubio was referring to CNN host Chris Cuomo, who after violence and looting by BLM and Antifa last June, said on the air, "show me where it says that protests are supposed to be polite and peaceful."
“Show me where it says that protests are supposed to be polite and peaceful?” - Chris Cuomo, June 2 2020 https://t.co/gIrIOHs2pj
— Matt Walsh (@Matt Walsh)1609982208.0
"This kind of blatant bias, this double standard, that's one of the reasons why so many Americans have sought political shelter in divisive political movements and in conspiracy theories that offer them the promise of fighting back against it," Rubio asserted.
"But here's what I want you to hear right now," he said. "We can't allow our anger about all of that stuff to turn us into them."
"Remember what President Nixon said at the White House as he was leaving after his downfall, one of the lessons he said, 'Others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.'
"We can't destroy ourselves," he continued.
Rubio went on to give his opinion on what led to the violence that shocked and horrified Americans this week. He accused the media, Big Tech companies like Facebook and Twitter, and the Democratic Party of eroding the confidence of millions of Americans in the integrity of the election.
He also said, without naming President Trump specifically, that politicians lied when they said that Vice President Mike Pence had the power to overturn the election, which he did not. Trump repeatedly and incorrectly claimed that Pence had the power to reject slates of electors from states whose results were disputed by the Trump campaign.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/rubio-capitol-violence-media-tech-trump