Sen. Rubio Jumps Line For Vaccine Despite History Of Covid Denial

Reprinted with permission from DailyKos

In the true spirit of GOP service, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida showed his support for vaccinating the state's most vulnerable residents by scoring one of those vaccinations in short supply himself. "I know I looked away from the needle. And yes, I know I need a tan But I am so confident that the #Covid19 vaccine is safe & effective that I decided to take it myself," he said in a weekend tweet.

Thankfully, Twitter users saw through the senator's selfless display. Daniel Uhlfelder, the Florida lawyer who protested the state reopening beaches by wearing a Grim Reaper costume, advocated for the safety of Floridians in the face of Rubio's tweet pretending to. "Florida has a population of 21,480,000 largely made up of people over 65 with large nursing home population," he tweeted. "According to Florida Dept. of Health only 32,000 people have been vaccinated. One of them is Marco Rubio, a 49 year healthy corrupt, career politician @marcorubio"

Author Don Winslow tweeted: ". @marcorubio is the guy from Titanic who grabs a baby just so he can jump ahead of the line for a lifeboat. 'I have a child! I have a child!'" Democratic strategist Kaivan Shroff tweeted: "Every janitor in every COVID wing of every hospital should have gotten the vaccine before feckless Marco Rubio. It's absurd." Political strategist Ana Navarro-Cárdenas tweeted: "Young, healthy Senator, who spoke at rallies packed w/thousands w/o masks, who supports Trump -who's down-played COVID & mocked those who wear masks, is 1st to get vaccine while most medical workers, elderly & infirm Americans, wait. Congratulations on ur privilege, @marcorubio."

Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with lawmakers, nurses, and other politicians getting vaccinated in the hopes of inspiring the general public to do so. But when the very politicians fighting expert-recommended advice to reduce the virus' spread and keeping much-needed coronavirus relief funds tied up in political red tape start shouting me first with regards to vaccines, I find it a bit gag-worthy.

Rubio, of course, isn't the only Republican putting his needs before his constituents. Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made sure to get vaccinated too. Mary Trump, author and niece of President Donald Trump, tweeted Saturday: "Mitch McConnell is a traitor to this country. That he got the vaccine after willfully failing to protect us from Covid-19 is obscene. That he's continuing to block aid to Americans that would help them survive the catastrophes his party created is unconscionable."