Laura Ingraham Says Rubio Campaign Effectively All But Over Now That He’s Gone to War with ICE Offic

......Ingraham’s comments underscore, the Crane scandal seems to hit Rubio upon three areas that pose unique challenges to Rubio’s campaign.

First, as Ingraham subsequently observed, Rubio’s denunciation of Crane draws attention to Rubio’s broader position on immigration, which is at odds with the overwhelming majority of the GOP electorate.

“Those sound bites from Marco Rubio,” Ingraham said, referring to a separate Rubio interview, “tell you everything you need to know about where he’s going on immigration. This is open borders, let-them-all-in, and cut a deal with the Chamber of Commerce approach to immigration… he is absolutely going to push amnesty if he’s president of the United States. I have no doubt about it. No doubt.”

According to Pew polling data, 92% of the Republican electorate is opposed to Rubio’s desire to expand immigration levels.

Second, Rubio’s attempt to demean ICE officer Chris Crane draws attention to questions about Rubio’s treatment of America’s law enforcement more generally. Beyond his statements about ICE, Rubio has been seemingly critical of America’s police force. Rubio has previously suggested that there is systemic racism amongst the nation’s police force — citing an anecdotal account to suggest that police officers pull drivers over solely based on the color of the driver’s skin. Some of Rubio’s prior comments prompted Black Lives Matter’s DeRay McKesson to reach out to Rubio via twitter to request a meeting.

In the past, Rubio has also expressed praise for the rap artists behind the ‘F— Tha Police’ anthem.
Moreover, Rubio’s implicit denunciation of Crane — suggesting that Crane’s voice is not valid because he leads the ICE officer’s union — has broader implications for other areas of law enforcement. For instance, by Rubio’s logic, America should not hear the concerns of other law enforcement unions such as the Fraternal Order of the Police.

Third, the Crane scandal hits Rubio on questions of honesty and integrity, which have become central to the 2016 race—i.e. who can the voters trust to tell the truth regardless of what is politically expedient or what would please donors and pundits.

Rubio’s declaration that Crane “is not an ICE official” directly contradicts Rubio and his staff’s prior statements. Indeed, in 2013, Rubio’s team touted the Senator’s meeting with ICE Officer Crane.

“We welcome input and ideas from Mr. Crane and other law enforcement officials as the Senate works to improve the proposal… We want law enforcement’s input,” said Rubio’s spokesman Alex Conant — now campaign spokesman — in April of 2013.

“We did get input from ICE. I actually met with a gentleman named Chris Crane… His frustration, and the frustration of many ICE agents, is that they’re not being allowed to enforce the law,” Rubio told constituents in 2013.

When it was politically expedient to do so in 2013, Rubio highlighted his meeting with Crane in order to suggest that the Gang of Eight was seeking input of law enforcement—even though they systematically ignored every one of Crane’s requested changes to the bill.

Indeed, reports from Center for Immigration Studies’ Jessica Vaughan seem to confirm Crane’s assertion that “violent street gangs were literally able to lobby Sen. Rubio and the Gang of Eight more effectively than law enforcement.” As Vaughan documented in 2013, “The bill allows the legalization of aliens who have been convicted of up to three misdemeanors”:


http://www.breitbart.com/big-govern...ign-effectively-now-hes-gone-war-ice-officer/