Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Monday night published the Florida address and phone number of a restaurant owned by Nusret Gökçe — the Turkish chef, social media star and meme known as “Salt Bae” — after Gökçe hosted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro at his restaurant in Istanbul.
Roughly 2 million people have left Venezuela in recent years (many have moved to Florida) and millions more in the country suffer as a result of food, medicine and power shortages. Rubio has openly discussed a U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, and members the Trump administration, the New York Times reported last week, have held secret meetings with Venezuelan military officers to discuss a possible coup attempt.
Gökçe eventually deleted the Instagram video of him serving and giving “Salt Bae” t-shirts to Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The Miami Herald saved a copy:
I don’t know who this weirdo #Saltbae is, but the guy he is so proud to host is not the President of #Venezuela. He is actually the overweight dictator of a nation where 30% of the people eat only once a day & infants are suffering from malnutrition. https://t.co/sSNPK9cAAx
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 18, 2018
This guy @nusr_ett who admires dictator @NicolasMaduro so much actually owns a steakhouse in, of all places, #Miami. It’s called NUSR-ET STEAKHOUSE MIAMI located at 999 Brickell Avenue, Miami, FL 33131
The phone number is 1 305 415 9990 in case anyone wanted to call. https://t.co/7CDkgHVZWh— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 18, 2018
While some like @nusr_ett feed dictators like Nicolas Maduro, others are helping to feed innocent children being starved by the Maduro regime in #Venezuela. https://t.co/mCAUd2gJ65
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 18, 2018
Maduro se da banquete de carnes y el famoso chef Salt Bae lo agasaja como un reyhttps://t.co/llH8wJ1Pwr
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 18, 2018
#Salt Bae @nusr_ett deleted the tweet with the video of him lavishing dictator Maduro with a steak dinner while the people of #Venezuela starve. Fortunately @miamiherald downloaded it before he deleted it. Watch here:https://t.co/AC9qkFWyOw
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 18, 2018
