Thursday, during an appearance on FNC’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) slammed the Biden administration for floating the idea of limiting travel to and from Florida because of the rise of a strain of COVID-19 in the Sunshine State.
Rubio called any effort to enact that regulation “clearly unconstitutional.”
“It’s actually quite ironic,” he said. “The day after Donald Trump imposed the China travel ban, Joe Biden accused him of xenophobia. Then in March, he tweeted out that travel bans against anywhere in the world do not work. But now, he wants to impose them on American citizens. You know, tonight, if you arrive at the U.S. southern border with a child, you will be allowed entry to the country. You will be allowed to stay here pending an asylum trial that you may — or hearing that you may never show up for.”
“But if you’re now an American citizen living in Florida that wants to travel, they’re going to put some form of restriction in your way,” Rubio continued. “I mean, it’s clearly unconstitutional. But we should also pass a law here making clear that this is not within the power of an administration to do. That you can’t just, you know, stand in the way of the ability of Americans to travel freely in their country, for something that, by the way, is not supported by the science.”
The Florida Republican lawmaker speculated the action was meant to be punitive for his state.
“I think they’re trying to punish Florida,” he added. “I think they’re embarrassed by what Florida has done. Florida has embarrassed California. Florida has embarrassed New York.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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