Rubio: UF Students Should Boycott Richard Spencer's Speech

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio on Wednesday lobbied students at the University of Florida to boycott next week's speech by a white supremacist in order to "embarrass" Richard Spencer.

Richard Spencer craves publicity.Desperate to incite outrage b/c terrified of @UF speech no one shows up for. #Sayfie #GatorNation 1/2

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) October 11, 2017

#GatorNation not asking u to ignore his racist message.I am suggesting you embarrass him by denying him the attention he craves #Sayfie 2/2

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) October 11, 2017

Spencer, president of the alt-right National Policy Institute, is scheduled to speak on the UF campus in Gainesville, Florida, on Oct. 19.

Spencer was originally scheduled to speak on campus in September, but the school postponed it over security concerns in the aftermath of the riots in Charlottesville, Virginia.

"As a state entity, UF must allow the free expression of speech. We cannot prohibit groups or individuals from speaking in our public forums except for limited exceptions, which include safety and security," the university said in a statement on its website. "Our decision to disallow the September event was based on specific threats and a date that fell soon after the Charlottesville event. Allowing Spencer to speak in October provided additional time to make significant security arrangements."

The university said it — along with other agencies — will spend an additional $500,000 on security on campus and in Gainesville that day.

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