US Senator Marco Rubio came under fire on Tuesday for tweeting Bible verses from his personal Twitter account. Rubio is a devout Catholic and has spoken publicly on numerous occasions about the role faith plays in his life.
On Tuesday morning at 6:46 AM, Rubio tweeted a verse from the book of John:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” – John 14:27
Three minutes later, Rubio followed up by tweeting a familiar verse from Proverbs:
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do & your plans will succeed. The Lord works out everything for his own ends…..”
Almost immediately, several liberal commentators and other writers began attacking Rubio for sharing the Bible verses.
Charles Pierce, who writes for Esquire Magazine, called Rubio’s tweets “oddly terrifying.”
Marco Rubio is tweeting out Bible verses this morning. This is oddly terrifying. https://t.co/tBZLk1on4E
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) May 16, 2017
Leah McElrath, a Senior Writer for the liberal group ShareBlue, called it “unsettling.”
https://twitter.com/leahmcelrath/status/864464533963800576
Conservative blogger Jennifer Rubin, who writes for the Washington Post, replied to McElrath’s tweet, saying that “either [Rubio] was hacked or he’s totally lost it.”
@leahmcelrath @MarcACaputo @marcorubio either he was hacked or he's totally lost it
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) May 16, 2017
The Bible verse tweets came as no surprise to those who have followed Rubio for any period of time. Rubio makes no secret of his faith, and has tweeted Bible verses and messages of faith dozens of times over the past several years.
Jim Merrill, who chaired Rubio’s 2016 Presidential campaign in New Hampshire, defended his former boss on Twitter:
I spent a lot of time w/ @marcorubio in 2015-16. His strong faith in God was/is inspiring. Sad that in 2017 others mock him for it.
— Jim Merrill (@JimMerrillNH) May 16, 2017
Rubio’s office has not responded to the controversy.
