Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio took to Twitter on Thursday to slam President Donald Trump's tweet on four Democratic congresswomen and Wednesday's night chanting in North Carolina as "grotesque" — but also ripped the left and news outlets as "self-righteous hypocrites."
"The tweet was wrong and the chant last night grotesque," Rubio said in his post. "The left wing politicians and many in the media demanding outrage are self-righteous hypocrites.
"And the 'outrage-and-response cycle' allows for only two sides and demands you pick or else.
"It's a stupid game that I refuse to play," the second-term senator said.
Trump tweeted last week the Democrats, all in their first terms in the House, should return to their native countries if they "hate America."
The four, who strongly oppose many of Trump's policies, include one who is black, one who is Hispanic, and two who are Muslim. All are American citizens, and three were born here.
At Trump's Wednesday rally in Greenville, N.C., supporters chanted "send her back" after the president assailed one of the four, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, who fled to the U.S. as a child with her family from violence-torn Somalia.
President Trump said Thursday that he tried to stop the chant at a re-election rally and he "would certainly try" to stop it should the calls return at any subsequent event.
In Rubio's tweet, he included video in which he said the four congresswomen were Americans but also accused them of being "political bullies who go around attacking other people.
"But when you hit them back, it's because their women of color," Rubio said. "They say that if you disagree with us, you're a white nationalist and you're a racist.
"It's absurd."
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