Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) has aimed criticism at Florida Rep. Val Demings (D), calling her a far-Left candidate who’s a “Pelosi Puppet.” In a recent assessment, the senior senator from Florida added that Demings would also be a “Schumer Puppet” should she be elected to the Senate. As endorsements pour in for each candidate, Rubio’s reelection team is now congratulating Demings for having received the endorsement from a Green New Deal PAC, calling it “hyperpartisan.”
In a statement, Elizabeth Gregory, the Communications Director for the Marco Rubio for Senate campaign, expressed that Rubio’s challenger “never tires of catering to radical liberal interest groups, so it’s no surprise that this pro-Green New Deal PAC has endorsed her far-left campaign.” Moreover, Gregory shared that “ironically, this endorsement proves just how ill-equipped Demings is to address issues that matter to Floridians.”
In drawing a distinction between Rubio and Demings, Gregory argued that ‘Marco Rubio is the only candidate in this race with a proven record of working to address rising sea levels, improve coastal resiliency, and champion Everglades restoration efforts.”
In response to The Floridian's request for comment, Communications Director for Rep. Demings' senatorial campaign, Christian Slater, fired back at the Rubio campaign, stating that Sen. Rubio's attack against Rep. Demings was "desperate and pathetic" and called him a liar.
"This is a desperate and pathetic attack from Marco Rubio who has failed to step up to protect Floridians, so it’s no surprise he is lying about Chief Demings. She supports commonsense action to protect Florida’s economy and create thousands of new jobs," stated Slater. “Marco Rubio didn’t even have the courage to join Chief Demings and his own Republican colleagues in passing the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which will make critical improvements in infrastructure that protect our communities against flooding from rising seas, stronger hurricanes, and other extreme weather."
Slater added that Senator Rubio was "too partisan and weak to deliver the commonsense investments Florida needs to tackle coastal flooding and fight the red tide crisis, lower energy costs and create good-paying jobs.”
According to her congressional voting record, Rep. Demings recently voted for the Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act. (H.R. 3684), a measure that would provide $1.1 billion for Everglades Restoration, and a couple of legislative measures to prevent funding for offshore oil drilling.
The Infrastructure bill Demings voting for has been largely criticized for having millions of dollars of non-Infrastructure carve-outs.
Earlier this week, Rubio’s team took issue with Demings over a video recording posted online of someone asking Demings if Floridians were better off now than they were a year ago.
Demings does not respond, and the Rubio campaign criticized Demings’ “silence.”
Rubio, a stern critic of the Green New Deal, joined a number of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle who shared their opposition.
In 2019, Rubio penned an op-ed on the subject, writing that “communities and local businesses in my home state of Florida are already dealing with the very real impacts of rising sea levels, and yet, the Green New Deal will do nothing to address that reality.”
In contrast, he said that lawmakers were optioning other “realistic proposals that will make longer-term climate challenges much easier to deal with.”
