Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted a call for secure borders just ahead President Donald Trump’s Oval Office address Tuesday evening on the same topic — but then he issued a “correction” that drew attention to positions once held by former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“We simply cannot allow people to pour into the U.S. undetected, undocumented and unchecked. Which is why I voted numerous times to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in,” Rubio began. “You have to control your borders.”
We simply cannot allow people to pour into the U.S. undetected, undocumented and unchecked. Which is why I voted numerous times to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in. You have to control your borders.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 9, 2019
But then Rubio followed up with what he labeled an “IMPORTANT CORRECTION,” noting that he had failed to include proper sourcing for his initial tweet.
“The first sentence should have been attributed to Pres Barack Obama. The other two sentences should have been attributed to Sec Hillary Clinton,” Rubio’s correction stated. “We regret the error.” (RELATED: ‘I Totally Agree’: Trump Trolls Obama On Illegal Immigration Issue)
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: Tweet below contained material from other sources which I failed to properly attribute
The first sentence should have been attributed to Pres Barack Obama
The other two sentences should have been attributed to Sec Hillary Clinton
We regret the error. https://t.co/olYQTrnGyA
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 9, 2019
The president himself has noted that a number of Democrats have voted in the past to fund border wall projects — and has suggested that their adamant opposition to such a project now has more to do with the fact that he is president than with the idea of a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border.