On Thursday night, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) appeared on The O’Reilly Factor to address comments from fellow Floridian, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She is the DNC Chair who had strong words regarding a fundraiser.
On Tuesday, the same night as Yom Kippur, Rubio held a fundraising event in the home of Harlan Crow. As Fox News reported, Crow has Nazi artifacts in his home, though he also has many other historical items, one of the biggest in the world. O’Reilly refers to the displays as “educational.” Wasserman Schultz did not acknowledge this while expressing her outrage.
Her statement only focused on the Nazi artifacts and in part read:
An event at a home with items like these is appalling at any time of the year. Adding insult to injury, Rubio is holding this event on the eve of the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. Holding an event in a house featuring the artwork and signed autobiography of a man who dedicated his life to extinguishing the Jewish people is the height of insensitivity and indifference. There’s really no excuse for such a gross act of disrespect. Mr. Rubio, who by the way, represents a sizable Jewish population in our home state of Florida, should cancel this tasteless fundraiser. It is astounding that the presence of these items that represent horror for millions of Jews the world over, would not stop Mr. Rubio or anyone on his team in their tracks when planning this event.
Bill O’Reilly devoted what he called “the biggest smear so far” to his opening segment. He even called on Wasserman Schultz to resign. Rubio appeared on the program to respond.
Rubio said though that he was not surprised, since he has “been watching Debbie Wasserman Schultz for years in Florida.” He also pointed out that:
On top of her political extremism, she tends to do these sorts of things. I was outraged because this was a private citizen, an individual who participates in the political process, who, anyone who knows him for two seconds realizes he’s not a Nazi sympathizer. In fact, as what’s been reported, you said he’s a collector, his mother survived a German U-Boat attack under the Nazis. But it is a despicable attack, and you know what the evidence of that is, even liberal outlets have criticized her for doing that. Don’t expect an apology, they just move on, they don’t feel like they’re accountable to anybody for it.
He also mentioned how it was “indicative of the levels of desperation that have now entered the Democratic Party,” and pointed to the trouble front-runner Hillary Clinton is facing.
