Marco Rubio pushed back on Donald Trump’s statement that “Islam hates us” by saying such rhetoric has consequences and jeopardizes Americans’ relationships with Muslims abroad.
“I know there’s a lot of people find appeal in the things Donald says,” Rubio said at Thursday’s GOP debate. “The problem is presidents can’t just say anything they want.”
When Trump brushed of Rubio’s rebuke of his comment as just about being “politically correct,” Rubio protested. “I’m not interested in being politically correct. I’m interested in being correct.”
Rubio told an anecdote of a couple on a missionary trip in Bangladesh who depended on the protection of friendly Muslims and how anti-Muslim rhetoric puts those relationships at risk. He pointed also to Muslims who served in the U.S. military, and to the Muslim countries assisting the United States in the fight against the Islamic State.
“I think you can be correct without being politically correct. We’re going to have to work with the Islam faith,” Rubio said.
