Bloomberg journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin called Tuesday’s New York Times article that looked into Marco Rubio’s personal finances both “totally legitimate” and a “danger” for the 2016 presidential candidate.
On their show “With All Due Respect,” the two journalists defended Tuesday’s article that highlighted Rubio’s expensive purchases and financial struggles.
“I think it is legitimate in the sense that you got a Republican here who, like many Republicans, has campaigned against profligacy and talked about the way that the government wastes money. You got to look at the guy’s finances,” Heilemann said.
While warning “people should not treat this like it’s some sort of indictment,” Halperin agreed the article was legitimate and newsworthy.
“It is totally legitimate to look at any candidate’s personal finances, particularly someone like Rubio who has lived an unorthodox life in terms of how he’s made his money and how he’s spent it,” he said.
Heilemann said he believes there are many aspects of the story that deserves additional digging and reporting. “There’s a lot of danger here, I think, for Marco Rubio,” he said.
Many Republicans and conservatives have dismissed the article as a hit piece. Part of the angst is from frustration regarding an article the Times published last week that detailed the amount of traffic tickets Rubio and his wife have been given in the past 20 years.
Heilemann dismissed the backlash against the article.
“Retaliating against The New York Times is, of course, Republican Party tactics 101,” he said.
Halperin said the traffic ticket article contributed to reduced scrutiny given to Tuesday’s article.
“If this story had come out about his personal finances without the antecedent of the traffic story, I think at least some additional Republicans would have looked at the Times story and said, ‘Whoa, this guy has questions about him,'” he said.
