Rubio says Miami Heat and NBA are ‘politicizing’ Uvalde shooting
Sen. Marco Rubio offered a blistering critique of the Miami Heat after their playoff game Wednesday — and he wasn’t talking about their lopsided defeat to the Boston Celtics.
In a trio of tweets sent late Wednesday and early Thursday, the state’s senior Republican senator criticized the Heat for politically themed messages about gun control and Florida’s new voting restrictions, asking why they hadn’t been similarly critical of China despite the country’s humanrights abuses.
The senator, who is from Miami, said the organization refuses to speak up about China because of its business relationship with the country.
“The @NBA doesn’t like to talk about the billions they make from a China that enslaves Uyghur Muslims and harvests their organs,” Rubio tweeted. “But they have no problem politicizing a horrific tragedy in America.”
Rubio was responding to an announcement made by the Heat organization inside FTX Arena on Wednesday, per video shared in the senator’s tweet, in which fans were asked to contact their senators “demanding their support for common-sense gun laws.” The message, delivered by the P.A. announcer, came after a moment of silence for the victims of Tuesday’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Later, the senator tweeted a televised Heat ad that urged people to register to vote after the state’s new voting laws took effect.
“The @miamiheat runs commercials calling #Florida a racist state,” Rubio tweeted Thursday, shortly after midnight. “But because @NBAChina is worth $133 million for each team, they say nothing about how China puts Muslims in concentration camps & allows no one to vote.”
The Heat declined to comment on the senator’s criticism.