Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is urging President Joe Biden to focus on the situation at the U.S. southern border instead of “fake” issues.
During an appearance on Fox News on Thursday, Rubio said, “We can, should, and must secure our border. And in terms of priorities, that has to come first. The problem with the Biden administration is they don’t even talk about it or care about it.”
“Not to mention inflation and supply chain disruptions and labor shortages and all the other challenges we have in our country. They like talking about fake things like voter suppression efforts that don’t exist. These are fake things. They don’t exist. But that’s what they spend our time on,” he added.
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Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) says Biden administration should focus on border security instead of “fake things like voter suppression efforts.”
— The Recount (@therecount) February 3, 2022
“These are fake things that don’t exist,” he says of Republican-led state efforts to restrict voting rights. pic.twitter.com/k5HSSTHbc3
Rubio’s comments come after data from Customs, and Border Protection (CBP) showed that the number of migrant encounters at the U.S. southern border in Dec. 2021 ticked up to 178,840 from 173,620 in November. The increase in encounters came after three consecutive months, where the number of encounters decreased.
Last month, Biden threw his weight behind Democrats’ effort to pass sweeping voting rights legislation.
He traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, where he delivered a speech to increase pressure on senators to pass the legislation.
“I believe that the threat to our democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voting rights bills, debate them, vote, let the majority prevail,” he said, adding, “And if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the Senate rules including getting rid of the filibuster for this.”
Other Republicans have brushed off concern about election bills passed by Republican-controlled state legislatures that make changes to mail-in voting and implement voter I.D. requirements among other things. Last month, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called Democrats’ voting rights push the “most hyped, manufactured issue in a long time.”