Democratic Senate candidate Val Demings has repeatedly attacked her opponent, incumbent Marco Rubio, R-Fl. for voting against a bill that provided relief for Hurricane Ian.
Marco Rubio didn’t bother to show up and vote for natural disaster relief. We cannot trust him to show up for Florida when we need him the most. pic.twitter.com/bxj8RHIxAw
— Val Demings (@valdemings) October 5, 2022
“Marco Rubio doesn’t show up for work, even when Florida is in a crisis,” said Christian Slater, Demings’ spokesman. “Just like his vote against Hurricane Sandy relief, Marco Rubio has yet again failed to show up and deliver for Florida. It’s shameful that Rubio would rather skip out on work than fight for the people impacted by Hurricane Ian.”
Rubio has explained that his vote against Hurricane Ian relief was because the bill was packed with other line items that had nothing to do with Hurricane Ian.
President Biden signed the stopgap spending bill that included over $12 billion in aid to Ukraine and other Democratic priorities.
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Senator Rick Scott, R-Fl., also opposed the bill, saying, “We are capable in this country, in the Congress, of voting for disaster relief for key — after key events like this without using it as a vehicle or a mechanism for people to load it up with stuff that’s unrelated to the storm,”
In an interview Sunday with ABC, Rubio said he would back the supplemental bill as long as it wasn’t padded with items unrelated to damage caused by Hurricane Ian.
“It won’t come to that because it’s our state,” Rubio said. “So if we’re not asking for it, and we’re saying we don’t need it, and it doesn’t have anything to do with emergency relief for Florida, why would it be in there?”
As it turns out, Demings has also voted against hurricane relief for similar reasons to Senator Rubio’s.
Hypocrite @valdemings voted against hurricane relief packages in 2017 and 2018 and now wants to point fingers at @marcorubio. https://t.co/NUmNbR0Ov2
— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) October 7, 2022
NRSC Spokeswoman Priscilla Ivasco blasted Demings for her hypocrisy in a statement released this week, saying,
“Val Demings needs to check herself before firing up criticism against Senator Marco Rubio. Demings’ record shows exactly what we’ve known all along, she is just another D.C. Democrat who will only care for the people of Florida when it is politically beneficial for her.
The NRSC noted that Demings had voiced opposition to hurricane relief bills for the same reason that Rubio opposed the stopgap funding bill that provided relief to Hurricane Ian; because it was packed with other budget items unrelated to disaster relief.
Rubio re-affirmed his stance on the Guy Benson show this week.
NEW! Marco Rubio responds to the Miami Herald's report that Val Demings voted AGAINST hurricane relief for Florida and Puerto Rico.
Listen to his conversation with @guypbenson on the @GuyBensonShow ⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/PPJS42AeGr
— Team Marco (@TeamMarco) October 7, 2022
In a separate statement, Rubio asked how Floridians could trust Demings when she has failed to provide relief in past hurricanes in Florida and Puerto Rico.
DID YOU SEE THIS?
Val Demings voted AGAINST bipartisan hurricane relief for Floridians and Puerto Ricans after Irma and Maria.
How can Floridians trust she’ll get hurricane victims the assistance they need when she’s failed to do so in the past? https://t.co/k7mZj00Uav
— Team Marco (@TeamMarco) October 9, 2022
Good question, Senator Rubio.
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