Two weeks ago, CNN’s Alisyn Camerota criticized Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio for supposedly failing to prioritize school violence — even though the senator had already appeared at CNN’s pro-gun control town hall, was consistently engaging with concerned citizens about the horrific Parkland shooting, and publicly reaching across the aisle to help promote a school safety bill. During the network’s coverage of the pro-gun control March For Our Lives event this weekend — a full ten days after her disparaging comments about Rubio — Camerota finally issued an apology for her “mischaracterization” of him, which began with a clear “mischaracterization.”
As The Daily Wire highlighted on March 15, the “New Day” host took an unfair shot at Rubio while interviewing Florida Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch, whose district includes Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
“Marco Rubio, who represents Florida and was there at our CNN town hall, he introduced a bill yesterday. It was about Daylight Savings Time. He wants to make it year round. Do you think that helps gun violence?” asked Camerota. After Deutch, chuckling, said he assumed that was “a rhetorical question,” Camerota spelled out her accusation: “My point is things are being done in Congress, but they’re not being done on this issue of even his home state and I just want you to explain why this would be his priority.”
The Reagan Battalion blew up the low blow by highlighting just how wrong she was:
A full ten days later, Camerota finally apologized for “mischaracterizing” Rubio as not prioritizing school violence, but even her apology, at least initially, inaccurately portrayed Rubio’s actions.
“In a recent interview on New Day, I mischaracterized Senator Rubio as not being focused on gun violence since Parkland. I failed to mention that, in fact, there has been a lot that he has been doing behind the scenes,” said Camerota.
“Behind the scenes” is not an accurate description of Rubio’s actions since the Parkland shooting; in fact, it would be hard to find another senator who’s engaged the issue publicly more than the Florida Republican.
To her credit, Camerota then went on to highlight Rubio’s actions, including sponsoring and aggressively promoting the STOP School Violence Act, demonstrating that he has been as proactive and front and center as you get. Here’s the video of her apology (h/t Ed Morissey):
As The Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra highlights, having publicly apologized for her unfair portrayal of Rubio, Camerota defended the senator on Monday when Parkland student activist David Hogg once again smeared him. Hogg responded by saying he wasn’t being “provocative” enough.
“I guess my point is, is that if you’re trying to get everybody together, if you’re trying to have solutions, do you think it is helpful when you say things like, Marco Rubio is putting, you know, for a dollar and five cents or whatever your coupon said, that’s how much he values students?” asked Camerota. “I mean do you think that’s unnecessarily provocative?”
“No, I think it’s not enough — I don’t think it’s even provocative enough because I — Marco Rubio is still supported by the NRA, which works to ensure not the safety of gun owners and the safety of Americans everywhere, but to insure that they sell more guns,” Hogg responded.
Repeating her “behind the scenes” mischaracterization, Camerota was eventually able to get Hogg to partly concede to her suggestion that “maybe” his “ire” was being “misplaced.”
Related: WATCH: CNN Calls Out Parkland Student For His Attacks On Rubio. His Response Stuns CNN.