Federal lawmakers are finding plenty of hostile crowds at town halls across the country organized during the Congressional recess. One local anti-Trump group is still waiting for a chance to take on Marco Rubio, who passed on their invite to attend an event Thursday, but the Senator did answer questions from protesters who intruded on a class he was teaching at FIU.
Florida's junior Senator was in Europe earlier this week, preventing him from attending a town hall held in Tampa. However, he was back in Miami Thursday and did not accept the invitation to appear at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami church where the Mayors of South Miami and Pinecrest, along with members of the anti-Trump group Indivisible Miami had scheduled a town hall.
Instead, concerned locals came to an FIU class Rubio was instructing, pushing the Senator to hold a town hall to address issues, particularly the future of healthcare under the Trump Administration, with both the President and leading Republicans promising to repeal and replace Obamacare.
"Nobody can dispute that Medicare is spending more than it is taking in," Rubio said to one of the men who intruded into the class despite the complaints from FIU Professor Dario Moreno that they were taking time away from the students to spend with the Senator. "I want you to be able to control your health-care spending, and use it to purchase any kind of health insurance you want."
One of the people in the room at FIU posted a video of Rubio's encounter with the protesters and students on Facebook:
At least one of the men intruding on the FIU class has been seen at other protests and rallies in front of Rubio's office in Doral as well as in front of the Clark Government Center following Mayor Carlos Gimenez's order to county jails to follow federal detainment directives from the new administration.
Many people, including President Trump himself, believe that many of the outraged constituents appearing at the town halls to chastise Republican lawmakers are actually organized and paid for by individuals and groups who are trying to obstruct the GOP-led Congress and the White House.
Rubio's Democrat counterpart, Bill Nelson, feels the protests at these town hall events have been effective.
"People do not like what they see with Donald Trump," said Nelson. "He's so unpredictable. They get very scared when they think that the nuclear arsenal is controlled by somebody who is unsteady."
Senator Rubio's staff says that he will not attend the town halls because of the deception of the left-leaning groups which are organizing the events to cause a stir while making the opportunities seem as if they are sanctioned by Rubio and fellow lawmakers.
(Photo credit: Drew Angerer)