Sen. Marco Rubio was repeatedly interrupted by hecklers Saturday morning yelling “undocumented and unafraid” in protest of the Florida Republican’s stance on immigration.
As Rubio tried to discuss anti-poverty policies at the Kemp Forum, groups of protesters yelled at intervals before they were escorted out by law enforcement. The protests, which took place over about 20 minutes, appeared to be focused on Rubio’s support for cracking down on some immigration laws.
Rubio has faced more flack from the other direction, with Republican presidenital opponents attacking his work with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on a comprehensive immigration reform bill the Senate passed in 2013.
Rubio appeared momentarily rattled as shouts broke out in the auditorium, but mostly continued speaking about how he wants to increase the child tax credit and other policies he feels could give poor Americans a leg up.
At one point, he responded to the hecklers, saying: “Guys, we’re going to be a country that enforces our immigration laws.”
Rubio was sharing the stage with his presidential opponent John Kasich, governor of Ohio, who initially made a positive comment about protestors on college campuses back in the 1970s. But after the shouts continued, Kasich asked the protestors to stop interrupting the forum.
“If there are any more protestors out there, I think we got a point,” Kasich said. “If you keep disrupting, you’re going to disturb everyone around you, so we heard it.”
Polls currently show Rubio taking third in South Carolina’s Feb. 20 primary election with around 12 percent support, well behind Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Rubio sits at No. 3 on the Washington Examiner‘s presidential power rankings.
