Marco Rubio attacks Obama's mosque speech: 'Of course there's discrimination in America'

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published 4 February 2016

During his visit to a Baltimore mosque Wednesday, President Obama sought to remind Americans — and Republican presidential candidates — that anti-Muslim rhetoric is "inexcusable" and "has no place in our country." Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, however, saw the speech as nothing but divisive.

"I'm tired of being divided against each other for political reasons like this president's done," the Republican presidential candidate said. "Always pitting people against each other. Always! Look at today: He gave a speech at a mosque. Oh, you know, basically implying that America is discriminating against Muslims."

In Rubio's opinion, Obama's focus on intolerance was just a distraction from the real issue at hand. "Of course there's discrimination in America, of every kind," Rubio said. "But the bigger issue is radical Islam. And by the way, radical Islam poses a threat to Muslims themselves. They argue that. They'll tell you that."