U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reeled in a major endorsement on Monday as U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., announced he was backing him for the Republican presidential nomination.
Issa made the announcement on “Fox and Friends” on Fox News on Monday morning.
"Marco Rubio really is an exciting candidate and I'm pleased to be able to endorse him, to work for him for the presidency," Issa said, praising Rubio’s efforts against President Barack Obama’s federal health-care law.
Issa is the former chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and, in that role, pushed for an investigation of then U.S. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton’s handling of the Benghazi terrorist attacks in 2012. Clinton is the favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Erin Walker, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), looked to tie Issa’s support of the Benghazi investigation to Rubio’s take on foreign affairs and the recent Islamic terrorist attack in Paris.
“It’s fitting that Congressman Darrell Issa, who led the Republican effort to exploit the Benghazi attack for political gain, is endorsing Marco Rubio, who is leading the Republican effort to exploit the Paris attacks for political gain,” Walker said on Monday. “While people around the world were still mourning the terror attacks in Paris, Marco Rubio was on television claiming the attacks were a ‘positive development’ for his campaign, echoing Donald Trump’s call to ‘shut down’ mosques and other public spaces in response, and cutting ads discussing the prospect of an attack on the U.S.
“After 9/11, Democrats and Republicans came together to support President George W. Bush,” Walker added. “The GOP response to the Paris attack – especially Marco Rubio’s – has been shameful by contrast. We need a commander-in-chief serious about protecting this nation, not a grandstander-in-chief who exploits terror as a ‘positive development’ to further his own political ambition.”
During his appearance on Fox News, Issa, who spent most of his life in the private sector before running for the U.S. Senate in 1998 and winning a congressional seat in 2000, stressed Rubio’s work on homeland security issues including his attempt to keep a program collecting data on terrorists in place.
Rubio is a vocal supporter of U.S. Sen Tom Cotton’s, R-Ark., “Liberty Through Strength Act” which reforms the “USA Freedom Act’s” ending of the terrorist metadata collection program until the start of 2017 when the White House can ensure the new National Security Agency (NSA) collection system is up to par. Over the weekend, Rubio who sits on the Intelligence Committee, once again insisted the nation was less safe as several intelligence programs were ended due to the “USA Freedom Act.”
“When the clock strikes midnight, Americans will be less safe because of a presidential leadership void and gross misinformation that combined to kill critical intelligence programs at a time of rising terrorist threats to the United States and our allies,” Rubio said on Saturday. “By abandoning these programs and enacting the USA Freedom Act, President Obama and his allies in Congress are unilaterally disarming the U.S. in the fight against terrorism and take away a valuable early warning tool from people whose sole duty is to keep us safe.
"As the recent terrorist attacks in Paris have shown, now is the worst possible time to undermine the very tools that keep our people safe,” Rubio added. “We need a president who is willing to do what is necessary to protect our people and destroy ISIS. I hope people will come to grips with the current threats facing our nation and join the effort that Sen. Tom Cotton and I have started to reauthorize these important programs before it is too late."
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
