Kenney on Rubio: “Show Some Class”

The Philly mayor said the GOP presidential candidate tried to "score political points off the tragic shooting of a Philadelphia police officer."

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Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney is striking back after Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio criticized him on the campaign trail for saying that the shooting of a city policeman “has nothing to do with being a Muslim,” despite the suspect allegedly claiming an allegiance to ISIS.

Rubio called Kenney’s remarks “ridiculous” and “absurd” at a town hall Saturday.

“This man was a violent criminal with a deranged view of what the Quran teaches,” Kenney said Monday in a statement provided to Citified. “He is not representative of Islam. Period. I think candidates for office, particularly for president, should not demonize an entire group of Americans because of the actions of violent criminals with deranged views of Islam.”

Kenney continued, “I also think it’s particularly irresponsible to try and score political points off the tragic shooting of a Philadelphia police officer. Show some class and dignity when you are running for the highest office in the land.”

At the campaign event Saturday, Rubio had said, “The police chief stands up, says, ‘This was the guy. We arrested him. And he said he did it in the name of ISIS.’ And then [Kenney] gets up and says, ‘This has nothing to do with Islam and radical Islam.’ This is ridiculous. This is absurd.”

Edward Archer has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting and wounding 33-year-old Officer Jesse Hartnett late Thursday night. At a news conference Friday, Police Capt. James Clark said Archer confessed to police and told them, “I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic state, and that’s why I did what I did.” Archer’s mother told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he has been “hearing voices in his head.”