In the News
Will Marco Rubio Endorse His Longtime Friend And Maduro Regime Crony?
Marco Rubio and David Rivera go way back. From living together in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. to working together on Rubio’s failed 2016 presidential campaign, the two have been friends and allies for well over a decade. Rubio and Rivera are so close that when Rivera was hired to consult for Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, earning millions of dollars from the Maduro regime, he and Rubio were speaking on a daily basis. Rubio even gave Rivera a “full-throated endorsement” while Rivera was under investigation in 2012.
Now that Rivera has filed to run for the Florida House, will Marco Rubio endorse his longtime political ally?
“David Rivera used his friendship with Marco Rubio to rake in millions of dollars from Nicolás Maduro’s narco-regime. Now that Rivera is running for office again, Rubio can’t afford to stay silent. Floridians deserve to know whether Marco Rubio will once again help out his longtime political ally, or find the courage to stand up to one of the Maduro regime’s corrupt lobbyists,” said Florida Democratic Party spokesperson Grant Fox.
Despite David Rivera’s history of working for the Venezuelan government, and the ongoing criminal investigation against him, Marco Rubio has never condemned his actions:
- In 2017, Rivera secured a multimillion dollar contract to lobby on behalf of Venezuela’s state-run oil company. As the Miami Herald reported, Rivera’s close relationship with Rubio helped him win the contract; the goal was to “soften Rubio.”
- Rivera diverted millions of dollars earned from his consulting contract to Venezuelan business mogul Raúl Gorrín, a close ally of President Nicolás Maduro.
- Despite the revelations about Rivera’s work and an ongoing criminal investigation into his corrupt lobbying, Rubio has refused to condemn him.
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