Rubio criticizes media treatment of Trump in clash with Anderson Cooper: ‘He’s going to fight back’

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio defended former President Trump’s attacks on the media and Democrats during his closing message to voters this week, saying he is “going to fight back” at his critics.

During a Tuesday interview, CNN host Anderson Cooper asked Rubio whether those in Trump’s inner circle wish he had focused on the economy and the border in his final message to voters instead of “going off on tangents” by attacking Nancy Pelosi at a campaign rally d. Monday.

“Well, this is a guy who has been compared to Adolf Hitler,” Rubio began, singling out major networks like MSNBC that have compared his rallies to Nazi rallies.

The two clashed after Cooper stepped in to remind Rubio of disparaging comments he and Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, made about Trump in years past.

RUBIO FITS BACK AGAINST TRUMP CRITICS WHO ACCUSE FORMER PRESIDENT OF BEING ‘FASCIST’

Republican Senator Marco Rubio previously defended President Trump during a clash on CNN over Trump’s rhetoric. (Screenshot/CNN)

“It was his vice president who called him Adolf Hitler,” Cooper said.

In 2016, Vance said Trump could be America’s “Hitler,” in comments he has since denied many times.

Rubio again brought up the media’s reporting on the former president and his supporters to argue that there has been unfair treatment of the Republican presidential nominee.

“Maybe it wasn’t your network, although I could point to things in your network that label everything he says as violent rhetoric, including jokes and including things that are clearly off the cuff. But he has a unique style of communication, and he’s not going to change the day before. He’s been subjected to relentless and ruthless attacks on his character, against everything you can imagine,” Rubio said.

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Oprah Winfrey speaks on stage during Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign rally in Philadelphia on Nov. 4, 2024. (Reuters/Hannah McKay)

“So to argue that in the last 24 hours Kamala Harris hasn’t mentioned his name after you’ve got Oprah Winfrey — and look, I don’t care, celebrities can support whoever they want — but last night she said something about a meeting: ‘If you don’t vote today, you’ll never get a chance to vote again.’ Really? “Yeah, there will be some punch back at that, no doubt about it.”

During Harris’ final campaign rally in Philadelphia on Monday, Winfrey told voters they can’t stay home this election or lose their right to vote.

“We’re not going to sit this one out. If we don’t show up tomorrow, it’s entirely possible we won’t ever get a chance to cast a vote again,” she warned.

Cooper told Rubio that Trump had also used his own charged rhetoric about the election in recent days, before again bringing up Vance’s earlier remarks about Trump.

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Senator JD Vance arrives to vote in St. Anthony of Padua Maronite Catholic Church on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Rubio said Vance had changed his mind about Trump, arguing that “a lot of people” who didn’t vote for the GOP nominee in the last two elections would vote for him this election because of concerns about the economy, the cost of living and the direction of the country was on its way.

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“You know what they say to themselves? When Donald Trump was president, life was more affordable, our country was safer, and it was stronger and more respected in the world. And at the end of the day, that’s what’s going to matter,” Rubio said. “When people go and put gas in their car, when people pay their bills at the end of the month, they think they’re going to be better off under Donald Trump then they will under a Kamala Harris presidency. That’s it , that is going to matter on a daily basis and is going to matter for the future of the country. There is no doubt that both sides say that this is the definition of an election that will determine the future of the country.