Reports earlier this week noted that a campaign canvasser for Sen. Marco Rubio was badly beaten while working a Florida neighborhood solely because he is a "Republican."
The staffer was left with a broken jaw, internal bleeding, needing surgery and a message: Republicans "aren't allowed in their neighborhood," according to a report from the senator himself.
Rubio is running against Rep. Val Demings, a Democrat who is pretending to be a 'moderate' because Florida has turned mostly red.
Rubio, in his statement, explained, "Last night one of our canvassers wearing my T-shirt and a [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis hat was brutally attacked by 4 animals who told him Republicans weren’t allowed in their neighborhood.
"He suffered internal bleeding, a broken jaw & will need facial reconstructive surgery," he added, posting photos of the bloodied canvasser.
Last night one of our canvassers wearing my T-shirt and a Desantis hat was brutally attacked by 4 animals who told him Republicans weren’t allowed in their neighborhood in #Hialeah #Florida
He suffered internal bleeding, a broken jaw & will need facial reconstructive surgery pic.twitter.com/36QpbySg58
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) October 24, 2022
There was some back and forth after Rubio posted his tweet about how police have not yet determined a) whether the attack was politically motivated; and b) just how many people were involved in the assault. But others who made excuses for the attackers never quite explained how, barring any serious threat from the canvasser, the attackers were justified in beating a man so badly he now requires surgery and was bleeding internally.
There were also reports claiming that the canvasser, identified by local media as Christopher Monzon, also protested Hollywood, Florida's move to change the names of streets honoring Confederate leaders. Cellphone video shows him holding a Confederate flag and poking it in the direction of counter-protesters before charging at them. Police on the scene took him down and arrested him.
One of the top tweets in response to Rubio’s post came from a self-described Democrat: “I am so sorry this happened! I’m a Democrat, but we should never voice our opposition with violence.”
I am so sorry this happened! I’m a Democrat, but we should never voice our opposition with violence.
— Meg Standridge (@MegStandridge) October 24, 2022
Rubio went viral last week during an interview on CNN after host Dana Bash accused him, falsely, of failing to vote for disaster relief:
BASH: “Senator, you wrote a letter Friday to the Senate appropriations committee asking for disaster relief dollars for desperately needed resources to rebuild Florida communities. After Hurricane Sandy hit northeastern states in 2012, you voted no on the $50 billion relief package. I know you supported a smaller version. Why should other senators vote for relief for your state when you didn’t vote for a package to help theirs?”
RUBIO: “Oh, I’ve always voted for hurricane and disaster relief. I’ve even voted for it without pay-fors. In Sandy, they included a roof for a museum in Washington, D.C., for fisheries in Alaska. It had been loaded up with things that had nothing to do with disaster relief. I would never put out there that we should use a disaster relief package for Florida as a way to pay for other things people want around the country. I think that’s the key. In Sandy, unfortunately, they loaded it up with a bunch of things that had nothing to do with Sandy. I voted for every disaster relief package, especially one that’s clean. And I’ll continue to do so. When it comes to Florida, we’ll do that again and make sure the package is clean and doesn’t have stuff for other people in there.”
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