'The Wire' Creator Eviscerates Marco Rubio After Newsroom Shooting
David Simon, creator of HBO’s “The Wire,” unleashed his fury on Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) Thursday after a shooter stormed the office building of the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, and claimed at least five lives.
Prior to Thursday’s shooting, Rubio had published a series of tweets suggesting that the media has a problem with biased reporting and is partly to blame for the public’s loss of trust.
BTW I’m not happy about this reality. It’s terrible for country. Lack of trust in reporting leaves us vulnerable to conspiracy theories & unable to have debates
b/c we can’t even agree on baseline facts. We are all ALL to blame for this mess. Sorry, that includes many in media https://t.co/rYLKtjCezU— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 28, 2018
It’s not good that people increasingly get news & information only from sources that confirm what they want to hear. It’s terrible that their is increasingly no space for nuance or 3rd way on any issue. If media doesn’t think they have contributed to this they are very mistaken.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 28, 2018
Simon, whose crime show was set and produced in Baltimore, accused Rubio of inciting a dangerous conversation.
“You’ve affirmed the notion that the press is an alien, untrustworthy cohort,” Simon said in a tweet directed at Rubio, whom he called “unfit to be a citizen of a republic, much less a legislator.”
From the vantage of someone who is waiting for the death count of journalists shot in their newsroom in my home state, can I simple say that @marcorubio is unfit to be a citizen of a republic, much less a legislator. You should crawl through broken glass to hell, Senator. https://t.co/RG2zHFCuy0
— David Simon (@AoDespair) June 28, 2018
Simon also pushed back at those who defended Rubio because the senator had made his comments before the shooting in Annapolis occurred.
He is validating the Fake News paradigm of classifying the press as a whole as a problem. Own it, @marcorubio. You've affirmed the notion that the press is an alien, untrustworthy cohort. That is dangerous rhetorical alchemy. https://t.co/uaqPXz8vpU
— David Simon (@AoDespair) June 28, 2018
As of publication time Thursday, Rubio had not yet issued a statement on the Capital Gazette shooting.
Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.
So will we get Marco Rubio's "thoughts and prayers" for victims of this newsroom shooting 5 hours after Marco Rubio placed blame for the state of American discontent on the media?
— Collin McCollough (@cmccollo) June 28, 2018
He has, however, pushed back against gun control laws in the months since the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, earlier this year. As hundreds of thousands of people called for stronger gun legislation during the March For Our Lives demonstrations, Rubio issued a statement telling them he does not support their cause.
He also has an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association for supporting gun-friendly legislation and has received $3.3 million from the group as of March.
Related Coverage
5 People Dead, 2 Injured In 'Targeted' Capital Gazette Shooting
Capital Gazette Journalist Reports Live During Active Shooting
Sean Hannity Blames Maxine Waters For Capital Gazette Shooting
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
