On Thursday, February 24th, members of the South Florida community in Miami organized a town hall in order to meet with their elected representatives and discuss their grievances–a practice that dates back to the earliest of politics, and has always been used as a way for everyday citizens to voice their concerns with the individuals that will then go back to Washington, D.C and faithfully represent them. At least, that’s the plan.
The town hall, which took place in South Miami-Dade county, had been advertised constantly by local activist organizations and was a source of hope for constituents, the prospect of telling Mr. Rubio how they felt a chance to incite actual change in their communities. Members of the community such as South Miami Mayor Dr. Philip Stoddard, Miami Beach City Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner, and Justin Klecha, deputy director of SAVE Miami-Dade, were among the panel of individuals who were speaking at the event. When the time came, however, Mr. Rubio did not show up. Despite his being invited five days prior, and his known appearance at Florida International University that same day, Marco Rubio did not appear to hear out his constituents and learn more about what the individuals in Miami Dade county wanted from their elected representative.
Not only did Senator Rubio miss out on the town hall, however. That would only have made him as cowardly as the other GOP senators who have also skipped out on town hall meetings with their constituents–Senator Cory Garland of Colorado, Pat Toomey of Philadelphia , and Steve Daines of Montana, to name a few. No, Marco Rubio did something much worse.
On the afternoon of February 24th at the aforementioned appearance at FIU, a constituent reached out to Marco Rubio in order to voice his concerns, whilst also asking Mr. Rubio if he was going to join his concerned citizens for their town hall that night. His answer was clear, succinct, and tells us everything we need to know about Marco Rubio: he called those same constituents–whose tax dollars currently pay for his service–“rude” and “stupid”.
We finally caught up with Senator Marco Rubio at @FIU. He told us that he won’t host a townhall because people act “rude and stupid.” pic.twitter.com/DrefDkvrFD
— Tomas Kennedy (@Tomaskenn) February 23, 2017
It doesn’t matter that he may have felt he was only referring to a select few individuals. It doesn’t matter that his words may have been intended as a figure of speech.
What matters is that Senator Marco Rubio is blatantly refusing to meet the needs of his vocal constituents. As a public servant, he has a duty to hear us out and serve in our interest–something that he cannot do if he waves us away by saying we are “rude” and “stupid” instead of actually listening to us. As the elected representative of the people of Florida, he is supposed to be receptive to our needs and not only the needs of those who voted for him.
Sorry to break it to you, Senator, but as discussed in your position in the Constitution, you serve all of us in your state now. Not only those who put your name on the ballot, and not only those who continue to stuff boatloads of money in your pockets in return for paid votes.
All of our concerns are your concerns, Mr. Rubio. If thats too much for you to handle–so much so that you feel the need to belittle us and call us stupid for caring about our communities–then perhaps you just aren’t quite right for the job.
Some more images from the town hall that @marcorubio didn’t attend. #wheresmarco #CanWeTalkRubio #concernedcitizens #recessresistance pic.twitter.com/aLt3oBeKV4
— Rise Up Florida! (@riseupflorida) February 24, 2017
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