This week, Florida Politics reported that Florida GOP Senator and 2024 hopeful Marco Rubio pulled two ads from broadcast TV this week — one of which prominently featured a company whose president has a criminal record.
In one of the pulled ads, Rubio features a business owned by a man who pleaded no contest to a charge of soliciting a prostitute. In another ad, Rubio “attacked Democratic challenger Val Demings for voting for pandemic relief checks that went to inmates and undocumented workers, but failed to mention that Rubio co-sponsored and voted for the legislation as well.”
Rubio has continued to scramble, and the carelessness and lack of vetting with these ads further symbolizes the state of his campaign.
Florida Politics: Marco Rubio pulls two ads off broadcast TV after Florida Politics reports
By Jacob Ogles | September 21, 2022
Key Points:
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“U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s re-election campaign pulled two ads from broadcast television after questions about content were raised. Both were the subject of reporting by Florida Politics for offering incomplete presentations of facts.”
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“One ad, ‘100%,’ attacked Democratic challenger Val Demings for voting for pandemic relief checks that went to inmates and undocumented workers, but failed to mention that Rubio co-sponsored and voted for the legislation as well. The ad began running on Sept. 14, but the last airing was on Sept. 19.”
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“The other, ‘Diego’s,’ spotlighted a Panama City Beach business that benefited from the Paycheck Protection Program, which Rubio helped craft. But it turned out the business was owned by a man who pleaded no contest to a charge he solicited and procured a prostitute in 2001. That ad started airing on Sept. 9, but abruptly came off broadcast television, also on Sept. 19.”
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“The ‘100%’ ad was pulled three days after Florida Politics reported on the failure to mention Rubio’s support of the same bill. The ‘Diego’s’ ad came down a day before Florida Politics first reported on the business owner’s criminal record. Demings’ campaign criticized Rubio for a ‘series of campaign missteps’ after the latest ad was taken off the air.”
Read the full report here.
Published: Sep 23, 2022