The New York Times is at it again with a new lame attack against 2016 GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio. The hit this time is over the debt Rubio incurred when he was younger, the same kind of debt incurred by nearly every American who’s not part of the 1 percent.
Rubio, according to the Times, “struggled under the weight of student debt, mortgages and an extra loan against the value of his home totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.” Hmm, student loan debt, mortgage debt — why, it’s as if Rubio were an average American!
Well, an average American with three homes — I’ll give the Times that. But the Old Gray Lady penalizes Rubio for using the proceeds from his book to get himself out of debt — and for splurging on himself by buying a boat. Because God forbid somebody buy themselves something after they come in to some money. Frankly, I think the biggest scandal the Times uncovered was that Rubio lived in Florida for more than 40 years without owning a boat.
The timing of the Times’ story reminds us all yet again that 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has much, much bigger scandals.
She had her own struggles with finances. The Times picked a perhaps unfortunate day to release its “scoop” about Rubio’s debt, because it is the one-year anniversary of Clinton’s “dead broke” comment.
It was June 9, 2014, when Clinton told ABC News that she and former president Bill left the White House “dead broke” and struggled with debt.
“We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt,” Clinton told ABC News host Diane Sawyer. “We had no money when we got there, and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelsea’s education. You know, it was not easy.”
Want to talk about mismanaging finances? Try being married to the governor of a state (while you’re partner at a prominent law firm) who becomes president of the United States and still being broke.
The Times’ hit piece on Rubio points out that his book helped pay off his debt. The Clintons’ exorbitant speaking fees helped pay off theirs; is that really so bad?
This is the Times’ second attempt to attack Rubio. Their first attempt, published last Friday, took aim at Rubio and his wife’s traffic citations. The presidential hopeful has received four (just four) traffic citations in the past 18 years. His wife had incurred 13. Again, how many car-owning Americans can say they haven’t had at least as many as Marco in the past 18 years? I’m pretty sure I have more than four in the past two years! (D.C. parking is awful.)
That report was justifiably mocked by Republicans. It also reminded everyone that Clinton’s scandals (using personal e-mails to conduct official State Department business, giving lucrative deals to donors, etc.) are far worse. Not for nothing, it also reminded everyone that Clinton hasn’t even driven a car since 1996.
