Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has seemingly joined Donald Trump in endorsing vehicular intimidation of political rivals just days before the presidential election.
Hours after President Trump defended a group of his supporters who were seen swarming a Biden campaign bus in Texas over the weekend, forcing the Democratic nominee to cancel a rally event, the Republican lawmaker also threw in his support of the harassment—and stressed “we love what they did.”
At a Sunday night rally for Trump’s re-election campaign at Miami-Opa-Locka Executive Airport, Rubio brought up the video that shows a blockade of pro-Trump demonstrators ambushing a Biden-Harris campaign bus and allegedly attempting to force it off the road.
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“I saw yesterday a video of these people in Texas,” Rubio said to a large, mostly mask-less crowd. “Did you see it? All the cars on the road, we love what they did.”
The Republican lawmaker then tried to justify the harassment that led to a rally cancellation in what has become a key battleground state ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election. In several videos posted on Twitter, a group of cars—many adorned with Trump flags—are seen riding alongside and boxing in the Biden campaign bus as it was being driven from San Antonio to Austin. At one point in a video, a pickup truck can be seen colliding with an SUV that was driving behind the Biden campaign vehicle.
Currently, polls showing the typically red stronghold now only marginally favoring the president.
“We do that in Florida every day,” Rubio added. “I love seeing the boat parades... We thank all the great patriots.”
Rubio’s seeming support of the MAGA caravan comes amid national anxiety about voter intimidation—a tactic the Trump campaign has implicitly endorsed—particularly in swing states like Florida.
The FBI on Sunday confirmed it was “aware of... and investigating” the Texas incident, prompting Trump to defend his supporters. Earlier, Trump tweeted a video of his supporters following the Biden campaign bus, adding, “I LOVE TEXAS!” Neither the former vice president nor his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, was aboard the bus.
“In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong. Instead, the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists, anarchists, and agitators of ANTIFA, who run around burning down our Democrat-run cities and hurting our people!” Trump said. (In a tweet Monday morning, the president suggested the news of the FBI investigation was “FALSE.”)
The MAGA road show’s questionable support over the weekend also resulted in clogged freeways from New Jersey to Washington state to Arizona as Trump supporters intentionally blocked major highways.
Trump also claimed his supporters were “protecting” the bus, stating at a Michigan campaign rally Sunday, “Did you see the way our people, they were, ya know, protecting this bus… because they’re nice.”
On Sunday afternoon, Biden responded to the GOP voter intimidation while at an event in Pennsylvania: “Folks, that’s not who we are,” he said. “We are so much better than this. It’s not who we are.”
