Marco: “[Patrick Murphy] can get Obama to do commercials and send out emails for his campaign, but he can’t get Obama to get FEMA to authorize disaster relief.”
In a radio interview with West Palm Beach’s Joel Malkin today, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) called out Patrick Murphy for his failure to convince President Obama to help his own Congressional district with the algae bloom crisis.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio
Radio Interview with West Palm Beach’s Joel Malkin on WJNO
August 26, 2016
http://bit.ly/2bpiNP7
A partial transcript is available below. Listen to the full interview here.
MALKIN: “My perception of what seems to be going on, be it from the state’s concerns with the Scott Administration reaching out to the Obama Administration, and FEMA and the like, and they’re looking for authorization on the state of emergency that’s been declared, or any number of other issues that you’re talking about- Not being able to move the funding forward federally.
“It seems to me like partisanship is playing a big role in this and that’s something that bugs me to no end because there are plenty of issues that we can be partisan about. I don’t get why this is a political issue. Are you coming up against partisanship on these particular issues?”
RUBIO: “Absolutely. Look, I mean, they try to politicize everything unfortunately and that’s unfortunate. This is not a partisan issue. I mean, there are Republicans being hurt by algae blooms, and brown water, and the devaluation of property.
“By the way, there are also people in communities south of Lake Okeechobee who also have a voice and an interest here. Their lives and their interests matter. These towns will become ghost towns if we go in a radical direction like some people want to do.
“There’s an answer here. It’s going to take time, but we can get it done if we depoliticize it and we stop misinforming people.
“And on the FEMA determination, look, this is a guy who likes to attack me on this, Patrick Murphy, the Congressman there from that area. But I mean, he’s got these commercials out there with Barack Obama supporting him. Well, why can’t he get Obama to get FEMA to actually provide the support that community needs?
“They have now been denied twice after what was a disaster for anyone who saw it. But he is, as usual, pretty ineffective. He can get Obama to do commercials and send out emails for his campaign, but he can’t get Obama to get FEMA to authorize disaster relief.”
President Obama has twice refused Florida’s request to declare a state of emergency over harmful algae blooms
Yesterday, the Obama Administration denied Florida’s state of emergency request to fight algae blooms for a second time. “The Obama administration denied for a second time Thursday Gov. Rick Scott’s request for a federal state of emergency for algae blooms. The Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected Scott’s appeal of a denial of emergency funds to deals with the algae that has fouled the St. Lucie River in recent months.” (TC Palm, 8/25/16)
Patrick Murphy failed to convince President Obama to help with the algae crisis, but has gotten the President to make a “full-court press” to save his struggling campaign
Back in March, Murphy persuaded the President to throw “considerable weight” into his Democratic primary campaign. “President Obama and Vice President Biden are throwing their considerable weight into Florida’s contentious Democratic Senate primary, endorsing Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), his campaign announced Wednesday. Obama and Biden’s involvement amounts to a full-court press by the Democratic Party establishment on behalf of Murphy, who is running against liberal firebrand Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.).” (The Hill, 3/2/16)
Murphy successfully lobbied President Obama to appear in his first campaign ad. “U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy will begin airing his first Senate campaign television ad, a 30-second spot featuring President Barack Obama. The ad will begin airing statewide on Wednesday, and it features the president speaking directly to the camera.” (The Associated Press, 7/20/16)
Murphy also got President Obama to record a 60-second radio ad for his campaign. “Signaling a new stage in the Democratic primary for Florida’s U.S. Senate race, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy unveiled a new radio ad on Monday that features a heavyweight narrator: President Barack Obama. … The 60-second spot is paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which endorsed Murphy more than a year ago and is prepared to spend millions on his behalf in the campaign ahead.” (The Miami Herald, 7/20/16)
President Obama signed fundraising emails for Murphy’s campaign. “Patrick Murphy’s U.S. Senate campaign sent out a fundraising plea to supporters today that was signed by President Barack Obama. The text of the email — sent just after 11:30 this morning — largely mirrors a TV ad Obama did last month for the Democratic congressman from Jupiter.” (Tampa Bay Times, 8/9/16)
President Obama sent letters to Florida voters asking them to vote for Murphy. “Obama also is mailing endorsement letters and is featured in a TV ad supporting Murphy.” (TC Palm, 7/21/16)
Murphy has also been able to convince the administration to dispatch Vice President Biden to Florida to help his campaign – on three separate occasions. “For the third time since March, Vice President Joe Biden is returning to Florida to campaign for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Murphy — this time in Tallahassee.” (The Miami Herald, 8/4/16)
Patrick Murphy has actually made the crisis worse by delaying needed algae relief for his own political gain and holding “transparently political” campaign stunts
The Tampa Bay Times caught Murphy trying to delay news about algae relief for his own political gain. “Rep. Patrick Murphy’s office sought to delay news about relief for businesses affected by the toxic algae crisis so he could announce it at a news conference Thursday, records show.” (Tampa Bay Times, 7/13/16)
VIDEO: CBS Miami: “Embarrassing Report” for Patrick Murphy asking to delay needed help for press conference
VIDEO: FOX Tampa: Patrick Murphy “Playing Politics” with the Algae Bloom
Murphy visit Gov. Scott’s office to deliver a bottle of algae water was criticized as being “meaningless and transparently political.” “This week Murphy, who represents parts of the Treasure Coast, ground zero in the algae bloom crisis, pulled a campaign stunt so meaningless and transparently political, Capitol staffers are still guffawing over it. And not in a good way. On Tuesday, having summoned the media, he drove the six hours north from Jupiter to Tallahassee, showing up at the governor’s office with a bottle of toxic green algae water. … But my favorite part of the Murphy interview was his audacity to tell the press, ‘This (algae) isn’t a problem where you should be pointing fingers and blaming folks. … The local government, the state government, the federal government all have to come together to solve this problem — not see how you can score some cheap political points.’ Excuse me, Patrick, but the governor isn’t running for office. You are. Forgive me, but I think if anybody is trying to score ‘cheap political points,’ uhhh …” (Sunshine State News, 7/29/16)
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