When it’s time to certify Biden won, will Florida Sens. Rubio, Scott be patriots or hypocrites? | Opinion
What a vision to see Donald Trump and Nicolás Maduro leading the news in Miami on the same day for the same reason: Both want to hold on to power at all costs.
Caudillos in arms.
Oh, the irony, Miami-Dade County voters.
You — who so aggressively campaigned and voted in record numbers for Trump, portraying him as the only savior who could rescue Venezuela from Maduro’s unyielding grip — are now supporting similar tyrannical behavior from the American president to upend the verified results of elections in this country.
You, like the Venezuelans who blindly support dictator Maduro, don’t care about disenfranchising the 81.2 million people who voted for Democrat Joe Biden as long as your man is in power.
You, protesting in front of Republican Senator Marco Rubio’s house in West Miami — and demanding he cast his vote Wednesday to reject election results that have passed the test of recounts and court challenges across the land, including the Supreme Court. Truth: All attempts to throw out the election have confirmed over and over Biden’s victory in both popular and Electoral College votes.
You, spinning lies about unproven fraud in a fair and democratic election while you call for the end of totalitarian Cuba and Venezuela, where fraudulently elected Maduro has just seated a legislature packed with loyalists right under Trump’s nose.
The only surprise is that you didn’t also drive all the way to Naples to knock on the door of Florida’s other senator, Republican Rick Scott.
Like Rubio, he adopted the Venezuela cause with fervor — but he, Rubio, and Miami Republicans have yet to stand up for American democracy.
Their silence empowers the wrong-doers in America.
Their harsh words are only for Maduro, who has, Scott said on Twitter Tuesday, “ensured his cronies had a seat at the table in order to solidify his control and hold on to power.”
Sounds like, well, Trump and his Republican Party.
Undermining U.S. & Venezuela democracy
This is an extraordinary moment in American history.
To support defeated President Trump’s narcissistic tantrum is an attempt to subvert the election process and destabilize the country.
As a byproduct of that support, the political myopia of Miami’s Trump supporters and GOP leaders diminishes the cause of restoring democracy to Venezuela and Cuba.
Standing up to Trump’s whims could have been an opportunity to lead by example. After the silence, you can no longer claim moral authority or inspire credibility.
Biden will have a lot of work to do restoring the trust of allies and attaining the respect of enemies after this round with Republicans who put party over country, just like the communists.
Sadly, the used and abused Trump-Miami-Venezuela story is like a bad, never-ending telenovela, too outlandish to be believed, too poorly plotted and thought through.
Election results matter
In this latest chapter, there’s so much to lose, especially after the Democrats’ victory in two critical Senate races in red state Georgia.
The results end Republican dominance in the Senate, leaving Rubio — unless he changes his Trumpian tune — where he was during the Obama years, ineffective and sidelined. Likewise for Scott.
Delivering Florida to Trump has ended up being useless for both Trump and the senators, who have presidential ambitions of their own.
Biden won 306 electoral votes, Trump 232.
Biden is the winner no matter what the sore losers of an election, Trump, or Rubio, or Scott say. Or, even how they vote for that matter.
But if Rubio and Scott don’t vote to uphold a pillar of American democracy — verified election results and a peaceful transfer of power — Florida voters must hold the senators accountable.
The 2020 elections in Florida proved that voting in a U.S. election is also a foreign affair.
But what’s happening in Congress Wednesday — when a group of Republican senators challenge a certification process that is normally only a formality — there will be lessons for all.
But, most of all, for those who are most unlikely to heed it — fanatical Trump supporters trying to keep him in power at the highest of costs: American democratic principles enshrined in the Constitution.
If Florida’s Republican senators help President Trump in his destructive bid to overturn a verified election he lost, if they continue to propagate lies or innuendo about our elections, say goodbye to the America we know and love.
As we say in Miami when things get rough, if there isn’t a peaceful transition, apaga la luz y vámonos.
Turn off the lights, and let’s go.
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 5:20 PM.
