Marco Rubio Not ‘Fully Briefed or Apprised’ of Flint Water Crisis

Florida Senator Marco Rubio said he couldn’t comment on the water crisis in Flint, Mich., Monday because he was not fully briefed on the situation.

Asked by a Detroit reporter in Coralville to comment on Democratic criticism of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s handling of the crisis, in which the city’s water supply has been contaminated with lead, Rubio demurred. “I didn’t watch the debate so I have no idea what they said,” Rubio said.

When the reporter asked whether he had an opinion on the water crisis and how Snyder was handling the situation, which has prompted a National Guard call-up and a federal emergency declaration, Rubio only said that the role of the federal government was limited in such situations.

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“That’s not an issue that right now we’ve been focused on and for me to give you a deeply detailed answer on what the right approach should be on it, other than to tell you in general I believe that the federal government’s role in some of these things is largely limited unless it involves a federal jurisdictional issue,” Rubio said.

“So, I’d love to give you a better answer on it, it’s just not an issue we’ve been quite frankly fully briefed or apprised of, in terms of the role the governor has played and the state has played in Michigan on these sorts of issues.”