In case you missed it, the Washington Post published a Birther-style hit piece on Thursday accusing Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) of lying about when his parents moved from Cuba to Miami.
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews invited the author, Manuel Roig-Franzia, to discuss his allegations on Friday’s Hardball, and ended the segment by lauding over his guest, “You ought to get some kind of Pulitzer” (video follows with commentary):
I guess for Matthews all you need is to besmirch a rising young star in the Republican Party and you deserve a Pulitzer. Unfortunately, nowhere in this segment were the flaws in Roig-Franzia’s article discussed.
As the Miami Herald reported Thursday:
But the top of the story suggests Rubio himself has given this “dramatic account:” that “he was the son of exiles, he told audiences, Cuban Americans forced off their beloved island after ‘a thug,’ Fidel Castro, took power.” (Update note: The story struck the word “dramatic”).
However, the story doesn’t cite one speech where Rubio actually said that.
To back up the lead, the Washington Post excerpts from a 2006 address in the Florida House where Rubio said “in January of 1959 a thug named Fidel Castro took power in Cuba and countless Cubans were forced to flee… Today your children and grandchildren are the secretary of commerce of the United States and multiple members of Congress…and soon, even speaker of the Florida House.”
The catch: If you listen to the speech, Rubio isn’t just talking about those who specifically fled Cuba after Castro took power. He doesn’t say that his parents fled Cuba. Instead, he was talking about “a community of exiles.” That is: He was talking about all the Cubans who live in Miami.
There’s more:
Rubio’s office has told both the Washinton Post, the St. Petersburg Times and The Miami Herald that his parents came to the United States prior to Castro taking power. And he has said it more than once. In the article we wrote last month about his pending autobiography, Rubio clearly told us his parents came here before Castro took power. He struggled to recall the year (this isn’t in the story, it’s in my notes) and said it was in “57 or 58 or 59.”
When asked pointedly: Was it before the revolution? Rubio said it was before the revolution.
Not surprisingly, Matthews didn’t grill his guest about any of these inconsistencies choosing instead to buy the entire story hook, line, and sinker as he praised the author.
The Hardball host also failed to mention that the information in the Post piece came from a Birther claiming Rubio isn’t a natural born citizen.