Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) used history on Sunday to upend a popular liberal talking point used to incite fear about Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House.
For nearly a decade now, Democrats and media activists have claimed that Trump is a fascist and authoritarian who will unconstitutionally seize dictatorial-level power if elected president and bring an end to American democracy.
‘He will be too busy undoing all the damage of this disastrous presidency.’
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Dana Bash asked Rubio if the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity makes him “comfortable,” suggesting it empowers the president beyond what the Constitution says. Rubio, in response, provided the context for the court’s ruling: It only became necessary when the Justice Department was weaponized to target Trump.
The senator’s observation prompted Bash to jump to Biden’s defense.
“Donald Trump has said that he would go after Joe Biden, that he would go after members of the Biden family. That’s never something that we have heard Joe Biden say,” Bash claimed.
“Donald Trump has said that — no, he hasn’t,” Rubio fired back. “I watched the debate … and he was asked, and he said, ‘My vengeance will be winning and restoring America — making America great again. … He has repeatedly said that his revenge will be to make America great again, to undo all [of the Biden administration’s] bad public policies.”
That’s when Rubio pointed out a historical fact that undermines the argument that Trump will become a fascist dictator.
“By the way, he was president for four years. He didn’t go after Hillary Clinton. He didn’t go after Joe Biden. He didn’t go after Barack Obama. He didn’t go after any of their consultants,” Rubio explained.
“We didn’t see under him what we’re seeing now,” he added.
Bash, however, ignored that fact. Instead, she followed up by asking Rubio essentially to promise that Trump will not “go after any Democrats, any of his political opponents.”
“Yes, he was president before, and he didn’t do it then. He’s already said that he wouldn’t do that,” Rubio answered. “He will be too busy undoing all the damage of this disastrous presidency.”
Earlier in the interview, Rubio noted that not a single prominent Democrat “was chased around, persecuted, prosecuted” when Trump was president from 2017–2021.
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