Sen. Marco Rubio is focusing on racial inequities. Correction: this piece’s most recent update had a headline quote as ‘white nationalists.’ It was ‘ethnic nationalists.’ We regret the error. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio , reacting to the riots that swept the nation after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd , continues his commentary on the protests and reaction to the event. Saturday afternoon saw arguably his most pointed statement , a warning that extremists from both sides of the spectrum and even other countries could coopt the message. “WE KNOW we have nations who actively exacerbate preexisting divisions in America. WE KNOW we have far-left groups who support violent protest. WE KNOW we have ethnic nationalists who promote race based conflict. And no reason to believe any of them are taking the weekend off,” Rubio warned. Late Saturday morning, the Senator fretted that Antifa was coopting the protests. “Growing signs that far-left militant Antifa groups are taking advantage of the rightful outrage over Mr. Floyd’s murder to incite violence at protests. We must not allow these violent radicals to distract from or harm the effort to address the real & legitimate issues of race,” the Senator tweeted . The comments come as leaders from around the country note that many of the most violent and destructive protest actions are from people from out of town. Rubio hadn’t mentioned Antifa infiltration in previous tweets on the subject, which essentially said people need to consider issues of race more seriously. “Too many are still ignoring, dismissing or are oblivious to the fact that a substantial percentage of Americans feel they are treated as if their lives have less value because of the color of their skin,” Rubio asserted Saturday on Twitter . “We can’t begin to address this until we first accept […]
