Florida senator on election threats, Trump’s FBI comments and Springfield
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Florida Senator Marco Rubio spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday morning regarding election threats from Russia, Iran, and China.
"I think it's going to become a fact of life in the 21st century. It's just very easy now for anyone to do it, you don't have to be a big nation state, so they're kind of all different. The Russians are looking at what are the preexisting fractures in our country, and then they try to sow division, getting us to fight with one another. That's primarily what we've seen them focused on, you know sowing messages out there, including with inauthentic things that they create. You use AI, you make a fake video, whatever, you put it out there just to get Americans to fight against each other. In the case of Iran...it seems to be more specifically focused on Donald Trump. I mean, it's been now publicly documented they're trying to kill him. And so, if Iran's trying to kill Donald Trump, they most certainly don't want him to win the election. And so that's what their efforts have been, including attempted hack and leak operations and things of this nature, the Chinese are really kind of new into this business, or growing into this business of it, and they seem increasingly in some at least in past cases that we've seen publicly disclosed, going after specific candidates that they view as being anti-China. I don't think they want Donald Trump to win, but I do think you've seen them focus on things like congressional races in the past, and I also think they're laying the groundwork for more expansive operations in the future, on influencing American public opinion, on things like Taiwan and what's happening in the South China Sea and things of that nature. So, there are multiple actors out there that are in this space now, and I think you'll see more in the years to come. Because you don't really need, you know, to build anything really expensive. You just need access to the world wide web. You know, we're an open country, an open society, with open means of communication. And the best way to deal with all this is for awareness. People understand everything you see on the internet isn't true."
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
During the interview, Brennan and Rubio talked about former President Donald Trump's remarks on election threats pertaining to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
"I don't know anything more than what's been publicly reported when it comes to that hack and leak operation. Perhaps we'll know more this week. But again, it doesn't surprise me that someone you know clicked on something, they got into your system, they stole documents, and then they try to give it to the media. And look, here's what we're going to see one day. It's not just that they're going to take it and give it to a campaign or the media. They're going to give it to somebody, some online journalists, somebody who will run with that stuff and will begin to report on it, or maybe even alter it. For example, make up a fake email where it looks like a real email, maybe it is a real email, but they alter a few words in it and put it out there. And by the time you put out that fire, it's done damage. In a presidential race, everybody will cover that, and I think, get to the truth a lot faster. In a down ballot race, it's going to be a lot harder for some candidate to prove that that email is fake. By the time they do, the election may be over."
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Later in the interview, Brennan and Rubio talked about bomb threats in Springfield following former President Trump's and Republican Vice Presidential nominee J.D. Vance's comments about the Haitian migrants in Springfield, with Brennan asking Rubio if he had heard of anything regarding the Ohio governor saying the city had over 30 calls, with the person who made the calls came from overseas, to which Rubio said:
"Only what's been reported publicly, but that would not be uncommon. For example, a lot of these calls, where they call, and tell the SWAT team to go someone's house because there's a murder occurring. A lot of these come from overseas as well. Unfortunately, there are, you know...that doesn't mean it's being directed by a government overseas. It could be, I haven't heard that, but just because they're coming from overseas doesn't mean our government is behind it. But yeah, we have these kinds of individuals all over the world that like to do these kinds of things."
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Rubio, click here.
