Sen. Marco Rubio’s morning Twitter routine is starting to resemble Donald Trump’s.
The Florida Republican woke up nearly every morning this week and fired off a tweet critiquing the media, often deflecting responsibility for any breakdown in public discourse and civility away from the president. On Friday, less than 24 hours after a gunman opened fire in a Maryland newsroom and killed five staffers, the largest number of journalists killed on any day in the U.S. since 9-11, Rubio again directed his morning critiques at the media.
“Sign of our times... the F word is now routinely used in news stories, tweets etc It’s not even F*** anymore. Who made that decision???,” he tweeted.
It is unclear what media coverage exactly set Rubio off, but hours before a griefing staffer of the Capital Post-Gazette used the f-word on CNN. The curse word was left uncensored.
“Our whole lives have been shattered. So thanks for your prayers, but I couldn’t give a fuck about them if there’s nothing else,” Selene San Felice, staff writer for the Capital Gazette, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
“I’ve heard that Pres. Trump sent his prayers. I’m not trying to make this political right? But we need more than prayers… I want your prayers but I want something else.”
Capital Gazette writer Selene San Felice says her life has been "shattered" after witnessing the attack pic.twitter.com/mUwVZBjpmo
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) June 29, 2018
San Felice told Cooper that the attack had left her “shaken” and she recalled her thoughts while covering the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Rubio’s state of Florida.
“I remember being so upset hearing about the victims who were texting their families,” she said. “And there I was sitting under a desk texting my parents, telling them that I love them.”
After yet another mass shooting in America, this one leaving several of her own colleagues dead, San Felice said she has little patience for the typical politicians’ empty platitudes and prayers.
“I’ve heard that President Trump sent his prayers. I’m not trying to make this political, right? But we need more than prayers. I appreciate the prayers. I was praying the entire time I was [hiding] under that desk. I want your prayers but I want something else,” San Felice said.
It should be noted that Rubio, whose most memorable contribution to civil discourse was making dick jokes about Donald Trump on the 2016 campaign trail, has yet to tweet about Thursday's deadly mass shooting. Instead, he's used his platform to blame the media for causing "no space for nuance or 3rd way on any issue."
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