Rubio: Biden should focus on criminals, not guns, in federal anti-violence endeavor

close

Video

Rubio: Criminals, not guns should be the target of Biden crackdown

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sounds off on 'Special Report'

President Joe Biden should be focusing on the individuals committing violent crimes, not the instruments being used by the criminals, Sen. Marco Rubio told Fox News on Wednesday.

Rubio, R-Fla., told "Special Report" that criminals are committing the violent acts with the firearms and other implements.

"Guns are the instrumentality that are being used, but the real target should be the criminals, it's the criminals who are stealing guns and selling them in the streets to one another and committing these acts of violence," he said.

"What we have seen all over the country in the last few months are really things out of a Hollywood movie except it's real and it's tragic, [like] shoot-outs on highways."

Rubio said the current violent crime wave across the country is a result of politicians taking "crazy, nonsensical ideas", running for and getting elected to office based on them, and then either implementing such illogical ideas or creating a perception that they will be enacting such policies.

Video

"The ideas these people have are nuts and when you elect people who have these ideas it almost encourages and incentivizes these terrible outcomes," he said.

Rubio said one top way to tamp down on crime is to show concrete support for the police and law enforcement – adding that the repeated rhetoric and actions being taken against police are creating a crisis in recruitment.

"I personally know a number of law enforcement officers who are seeking now to get on the retirement pathway. They have the opportunity to retire in the state of Florida, through a program called DROP, but many are forgoing that and retiring at a certain age and getting out," he said.

"For the life of me, I don't know how anybody can be encouraged to go in law enforcement given the rhetoric that surrounded that profession for the better part of a couple years. We have a brewing crisis where I think it's going to get harder and harder to keep highly trained, highly competent police officers on the job and [get] good people in the profession moving forward."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Responding to Vice President Kamala Harris deciding to visit the border several months after being named border czar by Biden, Rubio noted that she will be visiting an area far away from the epicenter of the illegal immigration and trafficking activities.

"I don't know why they chose El Paso, it's not the epicenter of the crisis. That's closer to McAllen, Texas. What they are going to see is what they created, that migratory pressure has always been there," he said.

"I don't care what rhetoric you hear, I know people who have relatives in Central America and the message they got in November of last year and in January when Joe Biden was sworn in was there's a new administration, they are going to do everything the opposite of Trump, there will be no law."