GOP Sen. Marco Rubio is being ridiculed across all media after he took to Twitter to attack U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for wearing a mask and face shield when arriving in the Philippines this week.
“Our @SecDef is vaccinated But he arrives in the Philippines wearing a mask AND a face shield Embarrassing COVID theatre,” Rubio wrote on Twitter.
But his attempt to score political points blew up in his face after his comment drew immediate backlash from Twitter users who quickly pointed out to the Florida Republican that face masks are mandatory in the Philippines.
CNN anchor Brianna Keilar also joined in humiliating the GOP lawmaker saying he took a swing and ended up hitting ‘himself in the face.” — and it blew up in his face instead.
“Senator Marco Rubio took a swing at the defense secretary on Twitter yesterday and not only did he miss, he hit himself in the face,” the smirking CNN host began as she showed the tweet. “The Florida senator mocked Secretary Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for this, arriving in the Philippines wearing a mask and also that face-shield there as leaders were greeting him.”
“All the way back in America, this appeared to somehow personally affect Rubio who called it ’embarrassing covid theater.’ The problem is the Philippine government has mandated that everyone must wear both face shields and face masks while in public places,” she explained before sarcastically adding, “Why? And I know this is scandalous, they’re trying to stop the spread of the coronavirus which, let’s not forget, has killed more than 610,000 of our fellow Americans.”
“Rubio is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, so you would think if he saw a cabinet member wearing a protective get-up he usually doesn’t in a foreign country, it might occur to him that there could be different rules or norms there. And he could have saved himself scorn by doing a little research before the rip,” she said. “And Rubio, mocking masks, that’s really where we are still as we learn that vaccinated people while hugely protected from hospitalization or death compared to the unvaccinated can spread the delta variant perhaps as easily as chickenpox.”
She went on to elaborate, adding, “Florida, Rubio’s state, is currently the worst in the nation when it comes to the spread of delta. Florida is now averaging 10,000 new cases a day — that is up 61 percent since last week. More than 8,000 people are in the hospital right now — the most since January. Every county in Rubio’s state except for one is experiencing high transmission.”
Watch Keilar’s response to Rubio’s tweet and other reactions below:
Senator Marco Rubio took a swing at the defense secretary on Twitter yesterday. Not only did he miss… he hit himself in the face. #RollTheTape pic.twitter.com/onvOxWJQoT
— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) July 30, 2021
you are a freakin' idiot.
They asked him to wear it.
You are such a clown.
You were one of the first people to get the vaccine.
You are the worst public officials this country ever produced.
You are an embarrassment to humanity.
— YS (@NYinLA2121) July 29, 2021
I'm vaccinated. Just tested positive.
Because I'm double vaccinated I HAVE NO SYMPTOMS BUT I NEED TO ISOLATE FOR 10 DAYS. Your freakin' death cult members are CONTAGIOUS so do us all a favor @marcorubio @IngrahamAngle and @FoxNews
Shut the fuck up already #CovidIsNotOver
— Randi Rhodes (@RandiRhodes) July 29, 2021
Have you apologized given the Philippines requirement?
— Jennifer 'pro-voting' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) July 29, 2021
You believe our Secretary of Defense should violate the rules of our allies when he visits?
— Seth Masket (@smotus) July 29, 2021
"Embarrassing" is having you represent our state. As for "theatre," you're being a drama queen here so just stop.
— Katie S. Phang (@KatiePhang) July 29, 2021
You dolt.
That’s because the COUNTRY MANDATES this.
For the love of God, Rubio, why are you such an insufferable ass??— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) July 29, 2021
— Monty 🇺🇸Lincoln's Speeches🇺🇸 Boa (@MontyBoa99) July 29, 2021
Get it straight, Sen. Rubio. In December last year the Philippines government made it mandatory for the public to wear face mask and full face shield in all public spaces to prevent the spike in Covid-19 cases.
— Brigit Zent (@brigitgoddess) July 30, 2021
Facts:
– this politicization of masks is what got the US 600K deaths
– vaccines are proven to protect from severe outbreaks, but not from potentially spreading the virus
– FL has approximately 5% of the US population, but 20% of the cases because of "leadership" like Marco Rubio. pic.twitter.com/pkttZwnyy5— Walpurga Müller-Schm (@WalpurgaMueller) July 29, 2021
Florida is embarrassing COVID theater
— Riley #fullyvaccinated #GetVaxxed Sarcasm, Inc. (@zoostationaz) July 29, 2021
A US Senator who gets ratioed every other day on Twitter is definitely an embarrassment.
The SecDef is following the guest country guidelines. Respect for the rule of law used to be a both parties thing, but I guess the GOP has abandoned that completely.
— David Avallone (@DAvallone) July 29, 2021
You know what's embarrassing? A sitting Senator MOCKING the U.S. Secretary of Defense, undermining the United States. He is masked/shielded BECAUSE THE HOST COUNTRY ASKED HIM to. Because WE are disease vectors for COVID thanks to anti-American fools like you.
— Dr. Ohm 🇺🇲 (@HereToRebuild) July 30, 2021
