Sen. Marco Rubio defended saying some journalists are “giddy” about the spread of the coronavirus after being confronted by an MSNBC host.
MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle challenged Rubio on Friday to explain his tweet earlier in the week which said, in part: “Some in our media can’t contain their glee & delight in reporting that the U.S. has more #CoronaVirus cases than #China … Beyond being grotesque, its (sic) bad journalism.”
Some in our media can’t contain their glee & delight in reporting that the U.S. has more #CoronaVirus cases than #China
Beyond being grotesque,its bad journalism
We have NO IDEA how many cases China really has but without any doubt its significantly more than why they admit to
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 29, 2020
“I need to ask you this, because I’m a journalist,” Ruhle said. “We’re not just some personalities. You called out journalism. And I need to understand why on earth you did this.”
Rubio said some journalists are “doing exactly what I said.”
“Well, because there are some journalists that were doing exactly what I said,” the Florida Republican responded. “I read reports about how some Republicans are doing this, or some members of Congress are doing that. I don’t know what other word to describe who’s doing something and who isn’t.”
Rubio went on to list several examples of situations where he believes journalists expressed delight in reporting on coronavirus figures and then reiterated that he used the word “some” and was not maligning all journalists.
MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle confronts Rubio about his tweet claiming the media “couldn’t contain their glee” about the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/It57vg5zb8
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) April 3, 2020
Rubio’s tweet, while criticized by many in the media, did earn him some support from verified Twitter accounts.
“This tweet is objectively true,” political strategist Caleb Hull wrote. “Amazing how many blue checks are triggered by it.”
This tweet is objectively true. Amazing how many blue checks are triggered by it.
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) March 29, 2020
“The Media is happy people are dying because it means they get to blame it on Trump,” podcast host and former congressional candidate Joey Saladino wrote.
The Media is happy people are dying because it means they get to blame it on Trump
— Joey Saladino (@JoeySalads) March 29, 2020
