A new campaign ad featuring Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has earned the 2016 GOP presidential candidate the title of “nativist” from MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and others.
“To Marco (& movie stars promising to move to Canada if a Republican is elected), if that’s how you feel about America, just leave now,” the cable news host said on social media Tuesday.
“Marco goes full-on nativist. Says he feels out of place in his own country. It’s such a crass play. It’s offensive,” he added.
The ad that Scarborough, a former Florida congressman, found so offensive featured Rubio standing in front of an American flag, promising to restore America’s image as the leader of the free world.
“This election is about the essence of America,” the Florida senator said. “About all of us who feel out of place in our own country. A government incredibly out of touch, and millions with traditional values branded ‘bigots’ and ‘haters.'”
“This is about wages growing slower than the cost of living, a generation drowning in debt, and a president humiliated by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, Iran and Islamic jihadists,” he added.
Rubio concluded, “This is about the greatest country in the world, and acting like it.”
Scarborough is not alone in finding Rubio’s ad “offensive.” The cable news pundit was joined Tuesday by Jon Favreau, the former director of speechwriting for President Obama, and former National Security spokesman Tommy Vietor in decrying the ad.
“Congrats, Marco — you succeeded in sounding just like [GOP front-runner Donald] Trump,” said Favreau.
Trump’s campaign has promised since its launch in June to “make America great again.” The casino tycoon has proposed to do this by deporting illegal immigrants and establishing a database to monitor all Muslims in the United States.
Vietor accused Rubio of “labeling Trump’s garbage ‘traditional values’ and trying to sell it as [his] own.”
“This ad isn’t about ‘the essence of America.’ It’s about Rubio losing badly to Trump and getting desperate,” he added.
