Sen. Marco Rubio Slams Miami Heat, NBA For ‘Politicizing’ TX Shooting

MIAMI, FL — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio slammed the Miami Heat and the NBA for “politicizing” Tuesday’s school shooting in Texas that left 21 people dead.

During their playoff game at home in Miami against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, the Heat urged fans to call their senators in a push for gun reform and “make change at the ballot box.”

The call for action came following a moment of silence for the 19 children and two teachers killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

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An 18-year-old gunman wearing a tactical vest and carrying a long rifle barricaded himself in a classroom at the school and opened fire. All 21 people killed were in that single classroom. The shooter, Salvador Ramos, was also eventually shot dead by law enforcement.

“The Heat urges you to contact your state senators by calling 202-224-3121 to leave a message demanding their support for commonsense gun laws,” an announcer can be heard saying in video clips from the playoff game. “You can also make change at the ballot box. Visit heat.com/vote to register and let your voice be heard this fall.”

Rubio criticized the Heat and the NBA in a trio of tweets late Wednesday and early Thursday following the team’s playoff loss. He questioned why they aren’t also critical of China and the country’s human-rights abuses. The senator said the NBA won’t speak up because of money from China invested in the basketball league.

In the first tweet, Rubio shared a clip of the moment of silence at Wednesday’s game and wrote, “The NBA doesn’t like to talk about the billions they make from a China that enslaves Uyghur Muslims and harvests their organs but they have no problem politicizing a horrific tragedy in America.”

He later tweeted, “Since (the NBA and the Miami Heat) is so committed to social justice and has pledged to ‘speak the truth’ when can we expect you to condemn the genocide of Uyghur Muslims being committed by your business partners in China?”

In Rubio’s final tweet attacking the Heat and the NBA, he wrote, “The (Miami Heat) runs commercials calling Florida a racist state, but because (NBA China) is worth $133 million for each team, they say nothing about how China puts Muslims in concentration camps (and) allows no one to vote.”