MSNBC's Joe Scarborough blasted Marco Rubio in a series of posts on Twitter on Tuesday. Scarborough linked to Rubio's latest TV ad and contended that "Marco goes full-on nativist. Says he feels out of place in his own country. It's such a crass play. It's offensive." The Republican senator led the ad by stating, "This election is about the essence of America -- about all of us who feel out of place in our own country." The anchor claimed that "the second most nativist statement according to pollsters is 'these days, I feel like a stranger in my own country.'"
Scarborough followed up on his "nativist" attack on the presidential candidate by underlining that "it was offensive when Democrats said they didn't feel at home in their own country when GWBush was president. It's just as much now." He added, "To Marco (& movie stars promising to move to Canada if a Republican is elected), if that's how you feel about America, just leave now. #USA"
The Washington Free Beacon's Lachlan Markay (a former contributor to NewsBusters) replied to the Morning Joe host by asserting, "It's a weird line but you really have to nitpick to get 'nativist' from it." Scarborough retorted by again referring to the October 2015 Ipsos poll on "The rise of Neo-Nativism: Putting Trump into Proper Context." Marckay countered, "I took it as a prelude to religious freedom comments, which of course would make more sense coming from a Catholic son of immigrants."
The full text of Senator Rubio's ad seems to support this conclusion:
This election is about the essence of America -- about all of us who feel out of place in our own country; a government incredibly out of touch; and millions with traditional values branded 'bigots and haters.' This is about wages growing slower than the cost of living; a generation drowning in debt; and a president humiliated by Putin, Iran, and Islamic jihadists. I'm Marco Rubio. I approve this message, because this is about the greatest country in the world -- and acting like it.
Scarborough has actually been consistently attacking Rubio for weeks. On November 6, 2015, the National Reviews Elaina Plott spotlighted how the MSNBC personality "has been so hostile in public and private toward the Florida senator that it's now turning heads in Republican circles."
