Rubio’s Campaign Solicitor Cruelly Beaten by Man Who Said “GOPers aren’t allowed in my neighborhood”

Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign was off to a good start until a man who was working for him as a campaign canvasser ended up severely injured late Sunday evening by an angry assailant.

The assailant supposedly told the horribly beaten man, “Republicans aren’t welcome here in my neighborhood.”

Javier Lopez, 25, of Hialeah, was arrested at the scene by responding cops who found the unidentified victim with severe cuts and bruises.

Hialeah police said, “The victim was handing out campaign materials when Lopez approached him and said he wasn’t allowed to walk on the sidewalk and pass out fliers in his neighborhood. The victim then walked across the street to avoid a disgruntled Lopez, but Lopez followed him. He then struck the victim several times in the face causing several cuts and bruises.”

Rubio tweeted several pictures of the victim, showing him bloodied and swollen in the back of an ambulance and in a hospital bed.

“Last night one of our canvassers wearing my T-shirt and a Gov. Ron DeSantis hat was brutally attacked by 4 animals who told him Republicans weren’t allowed in their neighborhood in #Hialeah #Florida,” Rubio tweeted. “He suffered internal bleeding, a broken jaw & will need facial reconstructive surgery.”

The senator also addressed the attack at a campaign event in Hialeah Monday.

“I can tell you this, political violence should not be tolerated by anyone,” he told his audience. “Our side or their side, we don’t tolerate political violence. In this country, we decide who governs not by street mobs, we decide who governs at the ballot box.”

Rubio is seeking a third six-year term against Democratic challenger Rep. Val Demings. Polls showed Rubio leading Demings by six percentage points.