President Barack Obama’s political opponents quickly piled on after news emerged that a gunman had killed five police officers in Dallas, assailing him for his focus on gun control, his overseas trip, and his treatment of the law enforcement community. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) laid the blame for the shooting squarely in the hands of the perpetrators, while also suggesting that Obama, along with other public officials, take a look in the mirror. “I think all of us, the president included, should reexamine everything we’ve said, everything we’ve done up to this point to see if in our public discourse we’ve contributed in any way,” Rubio told reporters in Washington.
However, no matter how much the Florida senator tried, he still couldn’t help but attribute significantly more responsibility for the attack to the President of the United States: “Although, regardless of the fact that this is a time for all of us to unite and mourn those who gave their lives to eliminate the threat, I still have to point out that President Obama’s reaction to the Dallas shooting was, in lack of a better term, inadequate. Instead of siding with our police forces, who were only acting to protect protesters, he blatantly disregarded everything they were doing and sided with members of the Black Lives Matter movement.”
“I understand that he is half-black and that racial bonds go very deep, but at the end of the day, he is still the President of the United States, and that’s a position where you don’t get to have personal feelings, emotions or any kind of allegiance that goes above the devotion to your country,” Rubio opined. “In this case, I personally sympathize with the families of the police officers who were killed and wounded in the Dallas sniper attacks, as going out into the field every day and risking your life to maintain the peace and security of American streets takes an enormous amount of courage. If one of my family members had been killed in Dallas and if I had seen the president side with the ones who killed them, I would feel pretty upset, but most of all, disappointed and betrayed.”
Rubio then turned to urging President Obama to “change his ways” and “protect the ones who actually need his protection.” “I mentioned earlier that we should all take a look in the mirror. Well, I think that especially goes for our President, and I think he also needs to double-check, maybe even triple-check his reflection. He needs to make sure he still sees his other half that’s white, and I pray that will make him understand that he needs to stop supporting black assailants and start supporting police officers who risk their lives every day. Because, we white people take care of our own, and if he’s really half like us, he needs to tap into that part of himself,” Rubio concluded.
