As Floridians begin to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Ian, they’re relying on their leaders to help secure federal aid to rebuild. But Marco Rubio has a long history of putting his self-serving political agenda ahead of supporting disaster relief, voting against measures to help communities recover from hurricanes and protect Florida’s infrastructure from damaging storms.
“Marco Rubio has repeatedly put scoring political points for himself ahead of rebuilding communities destroyed by hurricanes and preventing devastating storm damage in Florida. Floridians need strong leaders who will have their backs during this crisis, not a career politician like Rubio whose top priority has always been his own political career,” said Florida Democratic Party spokesperson Grant Fox.
In addition to failing to show up to vote for hurricane relief last week, Rubio has repeatedly opposed legislation to fund disaster relief and protect Florida communities from hurricane damage:
- He supported an extreme Republican budget plan that included “severe” cuts to FEMA and would have slashed disaster relief by nearly 10% on top of earlier cuts.
- Rubio also voted against aid for Hurricane Sandy relief, which included funding to repair Florida beaches and communities affected by the storm. He slammed the bill for being full of “unnecessary spending.”
- Last year, Rubio voted against the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that included funding to protect critical infrastructure in Florida from flooding and storm damage.
- On top of this, Rubio has a long history of climate change denial, telling interviewers repeatedly over the years that he does not believe humans are causing climate change, and voting against legislation to help fight it.
Image Credits: Ricardo Arduengo/AFP/Getty Images
