Rubio criticizes reporters, Democrat for racism accusations against McCain

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is criticizing news outlets, reporters and a congressman for statements including allegations of racism against the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), as President Trump faces widespread condemnation for a tweet in which he told four minority congresswomen to “go back” to where they came from.

Rubio said on Twitter on Friday that even when Republicans respond to racism, “they are called racists.” 

{mosads}His tweet was in response to a tweet by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), who said he missed the “days when Republicans stood up to racism” with a video of McCain in 2008 disagreeing with a woman who said she could not trust then-presidential candidate Barack Obama because she believed him to be an “Arab.”

Rubio’s tweet criticized Teen Vogue, The New York Times, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), and reporters Ezra Klein and Don Lemon.

Yet even when they do they are called racists

Teen Vogue said that response from McCain was “patently Islamaphobic”

He was also accused of:
-“racially tinged attack”by @nytimes
-“running crypto-racist ads” by Ezra Klein
-“sowing the seeds of hatred & division” by Rep. Lewis https://t.co/BuqnvwKyrz pic.twitter.com/yxkh9v22td

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 19, 2019

Cicilline responded to Rubio’s tweet on Friday by invoking a criticism Rubio had toward Trump during the 2016 GOP presidential primary, writing Friday, “I liked you better when you called the President a ‘con artist.’ Now you’re just helping his con, Senator.”

A CNN spokesperson told The Hill that Lemon was simply asking a question, not criticizing the Arizona Republican. 

“Don Lemon was merely posing a question to his followers in regards to McCain’s position that he put out at that point in time in 2008,” the spokesperson said. “He was not making a statement about Senator McCain.”

Lemon on his program this week also highlighted McCain’s past statements in a segment critical of Republicans’ handling of Trump supporters’ “send her back” chant referring to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).  

“Remember the words of the late Senator John McCain in the midst of a hard-fought 2008 presidential campaign when some of his supporters said they were afraid of then-candidate Barack Obama,” Lemon said before playing clips including the one tweeted by Cicilline.

“If you really disagree, then you just shut it down.”

CNN’s @DonLemon reacts to President Trump’s claim he was unhappy that his rally crowd broke out into chants of “send her back” as he denigrated a Democratic lawmaker — though he waited about 13 seconds as the chant continued. pic.twitter.com/Mg2ISjBTZp

— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) July 19, 2019

A spokesperson for Lewis declined to comment. The Hill has reached out for comment from The New York Times; Condé Nast, which owns Teen Vogue; and Vox, where Klein is an editor.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) made similar remarks Thursday, tweeting, “If you are a Republican nominee for President — or President — you will be accused of being a racist.”

The House this week voted to condemn the Trump tweets as racist. The vote was largely along party lines, with four Republicans and one Independent voting with the Democrats to condemn the president’s remarks. 

In the tweets in question, Trump suggested that Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), all of whom are women of color, should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Three of the women were born in the U.S., and Omar came to the country as a refugee from Somalia. 

Updated: 1:20 p.m.