Rubio Calls Coverage of GOP Canvasser Attack "Disgusting" & "Grotesque"

Last week, Republiancanvasser Christopher Monzon became a victim of a severe beating in South Florida, supposedly for his political affiliations while handing out fliers. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) condemned local media's coverage of the attack in a tweet, claiming the press blamed Monzon while downplaying the apparent political motives of his attackers.

Rubio spoke of this at length in a recent press conference, tweeting that "it’s disgusting how since Monday some in local South #Florida media have been justifying the brutal beating of a GOP canvasser by smearing the victim over past views he has rejected & now regrets."

In the clip, Rubio begins with saying that "I think it's shameful that you're focused on the victim and not the aggressor. Do you know anything about the attacker? Do you have any questions about the attackers who are career criminals?"

An offscreen reporter responds, "I have a question of how do you feel comfortable with someone with..." Rubio quickly cuts her off by retorting that "he was the victim of a crime. By the way, I think he's rejected all those things. And that's what we want people with those views to do. To change their minds and reject them, and walk away from them." He reiterates that "but he was the victim of a felony. So how many stories have you done on the criminals that attacked him? If you're not going to do stories on the criminals that attacked him..."

Rubio changes his sentence to refer to the recent (and admittedly bizarre) attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D) husband Paul in San Francisco. "You know what? Speaker Pelosi's husband was attacked last night in San Francisco. We don't know the motive, but he was attacked in his home. If it was politically motivated, it's a crime, I condemn it. If it wasn't politically motivated, it's a crime, and I condemn it. And he was just recently arrested. I'm not bringing that up. Did he deserve to be beaten in his home because he had a previous arrest a few months ago? No, he doesn't. It's a crime."

Rubio again emphasizes, "so I don't know what this young man did in his past, he's rejected it, but I'll tell you this. It's a crime, and we should be focused on these two thugs who attacked him in a felonious attack. And that's what you should be asking here, that's what the press should be focused on, not shaming the victim of a crime."

A second reporter claims "Hialeah police say that it wasn't political until he got involved." Rubio counters that "Hialeah police did not say that. His father was on the radio saying that it was politically motivated before I even spoke to him. First time I spoke to his father was on the morning after the attack. They're the ones that told me that. He had a Ron DeSantis hat and a Marco Rubio shirt, and the people who attacked him knew nothing about him other than that. So those are the facts."

He concludes that "if your claim is that the victim of a crime is now a perpetrator of a crime by filing a false police report, then you should go prove that before you smear someone, and before you accuse me of trying to encourage him to lie. It's shameful what's happened to the media, and how it's okay to shame an attack of a victim, when the victim is a conservative, is disgusting. It's grotesque."