Marco Rubio Says Parents' Cuba Emigration Story Not Embellished: 'It's Outrageous'

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) responded to a Washington Post report alleging that he embellished details about his parents' emigration from Cuba on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News Monday night.

"The bottom line is, it misses the point. I don't need to embellish my narrative. My narrative is very simple -- I am the son of exiles and of immigrants, and that has framed my political thought," he said.

Rubio's official biography stated that his parents "came to America following Fidel Castro's takeover." The Post examined documents showing that Rubio's parents left Cuba over two-and-a-half years before Castro took power in 1959, however. Rubio said that he was going on family lore, but after the Post story was published, his official Senate bio was corrected to say that Rubio "was born in Miami in 1971 to Cuban exiles who first arrived in the United States in 1956."

Rubio also described two years ago to NPR a nine-month wait his mother endured in Cuba while waiting to return to the United States in 1961. Documents showed that his mother and two children arrived in February 1961 and left the following month.

"Look, if they want to say I got the dates wrong, they're right and I admit that, I didn't know, but I got the dates wrong. But if they want to say that my parents weren't exiles and I misled people about the essence of my personal story, that's not fair. It's outrageous. And I really wish they would have corrected their article because I don't think it accurately reflects what I've said or what the essence of my story is," he said on Fox News Monday night.

Rubio also said he is in favor of a flat tax, adding that he was "encouraged" by Herman Cain's 999 tax plan, since he said it forced other candidates to come out with their own tax plans.

In the interview with Bill O'Reilly, Rubio also again ruled out serving as vice president in 2012. "I'm going to say I've been here in the United States Senate for about a year, there's some things I want to finish here." He ruled it out earlier this month at a speech in Washington: "I am not going to be the vice presidential nominee. I am not going to be the vice presidential nominee."

Comments

[GoodNiteGorilla]

09:46 AM on 10/28/2011

It is funny how obama who, for twenty years, worshiped in Jeremiah Wright’s church, had his house paid for by Tony Rezko, claimed his uncle freed Jews at Auschwitz, snorted cocaine, and got other key biographical details wrong and the Washington Post never seemed to think he was too risky.

[ta2t2o]

11:33 PM on 10/26/2011

Anchor Baby.

[Kool71]

07:58 PM on 10/26/2011

When will they stop saying that these politicians "embellish" or "misspoke" and say what they did and always have done.....told a big ole LIE?

[mohamedalgore]

01:25 PM on 10/27/2011

ask obamaliar

[Tre Members]

02:25 PM on 10/26/2011

The issue is this "I got mine, if you aint got yours oh well" attitude. His parents immigrated to this country with little trouble, yet he belongs to a party that tries to make it hard for present day latinos to come here. It's the classic American story, Man comes, Man steals. Man becomes big man. Man makes laws so you can't steal and become big man...

[labman]

11:46 AM on 10/26/2011

He should have simply said, that his parents came from Cuba for the dream of a better life, and left it at that. Most people would've taken that to mean that they escaped from Castro, without him saying it. By saying that they came here after the take over, when the immigration records clearly show differently, damages his credibility.

[EvasDaddy]

11:50 AM on 10/26/2011

Somewhat more than "damages" it.

These lies, and his lame attempt at rationalizing them, essentially destroy Rubio's credibility

[romano70]

11:35 AM on 10/26/2011

Been Hispanic in origin, having lived in Miami and having Cuban family and friends, I can tell you that it is ingrained in Cuban culture to "embellish" personal and cultural attributes. His constituency will not hold it against him, but the rest of the country might. He is not ready for the national stage.

[EvasDaddy]

11:52 AM on 10/26/2011

You are clearly not Cuban.

Rubio's actions are akin to a Vietnam era desk soldier telling "embellished" tales of battle.

Mortal sin.

[MRb1000]

11:20 AM on 10/26/2011

Yeah for his nose to growing so large because of his lies!

[deepthicket]

11:16 AM on 10/26/2011

Exiles who fled Commies are beloved by Baggers; immigrants who came here to get a job are as popular with the tea-drinkers as gay soldiers. Not really hard to see why Rubio suffered this severe if improbable chronological impairment; it's paid off nicely so far.

[EvasDaddy]

11:16 AM on 10/26/2011

Getting caught in a lie is pretty embarrassing.

Trying to lie your way out of it is just plain pathetic.

Obama/Biden 2102

[liberal]

11:05 AM on 10/26/2011

You have that wrong Marco, you are an outrageous liar.

[Ossit]

10:42 AM on 10/26/2011

Just out of curiousity, are people pissed because of what Rubio said or didn't say or are people just pissed that Rubio is Hispanic? With so many people that the U.S. bashes every month depending on publicity, I sure wish there was a Bash a Xenophobe of the Month.

[EvasDaddy]

11:24 AM on 10/26/2011

The issue is not complicated.

Rubio ran for office in Miami. Miami is the home of many Cubans whose family heritage is inextricably linked to Castro's takeover and subsequent exodus of people escaping Communist rule. These people gave everything up in the name of freedom.

Rubio FALSELY ingratitated himself with those forced emigres by claiming to be "one of them" through his family's supposed "escape". They didn't "escape" anything. They came here with will so free that they actually ventured back AFTER Casto took over, most likely to gauge the possibility of profiting from the new regime. With no high five from Castro (he hated the rich), they simply came back to Miami.

In short, the Rubios are simply opportunistic people who gravitate towards that which will benefit them.

Marco Rubio is a liar, and a crook.

These revelations are but the tip of the Rubio iceberg.

[Ossit]

02:06 PM on 10/26/2011

Gotcha. Thanks for explaining it better EvasDaddy.

[mimssandi]

10:36 AM on 10/26/2011

For the Rubio, by the Rubio and of the Rubio. His framed thinking.

[EvasDaddy]

11:25 AM on 10/26/2011

Nicely put.

[curmudgeon1200]

10:30 AM on 10/26/2011

I grew up in FL and EVERY Cuban knows whether their family came before or after Castro; they don't get the dates wrong...ever. Two interesting lines come from this story. 1) Rubio plays fast & loose with the truth. Hardly news. 2) More significantly, and I keep waiting for the media to pick this up -- the timing makes it clear that his family were economic and NOT political refugees. So, they got lucky ... they were economic refugees from a country that went Communist and whose refugees got special immigration status. Contrast that with Rubio and the GOP's current obsession with denying status to today's economic refugees and the true scope of Rubio's self-delusional belief that somehow he is different, better than others, becomes apparent.

Any bets on the visa the Rubio family used to enter the US? I'll bet it was a tourist visa that they overstayed and applied for citizenship post-Castro. But that's just a guess. Come on Marco/Mentiroso, produce the original "long form" visa.

[Moxo]

10:19 AM on 10/26/2011

If his parents have US citizenship and have no intention of returning to live in Cuba... are they still "Exiles"?

[rksnj67]

10:43 AM on 10/26/2011

Good point! The're immigrants, not exiles.

[eyelashviper]

10:55 AM on 10/26/2011

Many older Cubans consider themselves "exiles" and expect to return to Cuba when Castro is gone, and regain their homes, farms, etc....The younger generations, however, are far more sophisticated and consider themselves Americans, with no intentions to move back to Cuba.

[SocratesSiddhartha]

10:19 AM on 10/26/2011

"The bottom line is, it misses the point. I don't need to embellish my narrative. " Rubio.

Yes Marco, but under your "bottom line" is the truth and the truth is you lied and as you correctly pointed out, it really wasn't even necessary for you to lie to give your 'street creds' which all goes back to the truth which is you lied when it wasn't even necessary...only pathologicals lie when there is no need.