Marco Rubio: To say my parents aren’t exiles is outrageous! 

The Washington Post ran a hit piece on Marco Rubio suggesting that he’s embellished the story of his parents coming over from Cuba as exiles for his own political gain, because his parents left before Castro ever took power and thus they aren’t exiles. To that Rubio responds:

That’s not fair and that’s not true. First of all there were a lot of Cubans living in the United States because they weren’t happy with the Batista Regime to begin with. Are they now not exiles because Fidel Castro took over? Secondly my parents did try to return. In 1961 my mom moved back to Cuba and she lived there for four weeks and she realized it was Communism and she came back to the United States just weeks before the Bay of Pigs.
So, there’s no need to embellish that. My parents were never able to return the country of their birth – not to visit and certainly not to live unless they were willing to live under Communism. To say they’re not exiles is outrageous and there’s not a single credible voice in the Cuban exile community that would agree with that. Not one.

Also, for more on the shady credentials on the author of the WAPO hit piece, read this by Eric Erickson.

Marco Rubio Falls Victim to the Wingnuts

Exclusive interview with Senator Marco Rubio on WaPo’s story about his family history