by Hanna Bogorowski
GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida took to Twitter on Tuesday to condemn comments made by GQ Magazine correspondent Julia Ioffe, who has been in the headlines for making claims about President Donald Trump and his supporters, saying it’s wrong for people to think inflammatory language is only coming from the right.
Ioffe said on CNN’s The Lead With Jake Tapper Monday afternoon that Trump has radicalized more people than the Islamic State (ISIS).
This president has radicalized so many more people than ISIS ever did, she said.
Ioffe continued the anti-Trump rhetoric Monday night with CNN’s Don Lemon, saying she believes a silent majority of Trump supports believes racism is okay.
It’s also kind of the silent majority of Trump supporters that think this is okay, they continue to support this president despite what he said, she added, referring to what she called Trump’s half-hearted condemnation of racists after the deadly mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
Rubio responded to Ioffe’s comments on Twitter, referring to her as a journalist in quotes, and adding that it’s inaccurate for people to believe incendiary rhetoric is not apparent on the left as well.
So many keep pretending inflammatory rhetoric comes only from the right. But the same journalist (not a politician a journalist) who earlier in the day said Trump had radicalized more people than ISIS goes back on CNN and says a majority of Trump supporters think racism is ok, the senator wrote.
So many keep pretending inflammatory rhetoric comes only from the right. But the same journalist (not a politician a “journalist”)who earlier in the day said Trump had radicalized more people than ISIS goes back on @CNN & says a majority of Trump supporters think racism is ok. https://t.co/EqYklWtSW7
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) October 30, 2018
Trump also responded to the GQ’s writer’s remarks in his interview with Fox News’s Laura Ingraham that aired Monday night, calling her a sick woman.
“There was a woman who was just on CNN a short while ago saying that you have radicalized more people than ISIS. That was CNN today,” Ingraham said.
“Well that must be some kind of a sick woman. When I say the enemy of the people, I’m talking about the fake news and you know it better than anybody,” Trump responded.
[ RELATED: Trump Ridicules GQ Writer Who Said He’s Radicalized More People Than ISIS ]
Ioffe’s word choice caused another member of CNN’s Monday panel, lobbyist and CNN commentator David Urban, to urge moderator Jake Tapper to push back, but he didn’t.
“That’s just — it’s unconscionable for you to say that,” Urban said of Ioffe’s ISIS comments.
“Hold on. For you not to push back on that — for her to say, the president of the United States has radicalized more people than ISIS is irresponsible,” Urban responded, directing his comments at Tapper.
After receiving criticism for the conversation, Tapper gave Ioffe a chance to apologize.
Ioffe walked back her remarks, saying she became too emotional.
“I think I spoke in the heat of the moment,” she said. “This has been a very emotional and personally painful time for me. I think I exaggerated and I apologize for that.”
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Hanna Bogorowski is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Hanna on Twitter.
