'What a load of crap': Marco Rubio claimed that Dems are trying to 'steal' Florida elections — and got destroyed

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) appeared to spend most of Thursday afternoon drafting a tweetstorm that alleges a South Florida county has opened the door for Democrats to "steal" votes away from Republicans — a claim that was both debunked and mocked.

Rubio based his assessment that Democrats are trying to steal the Florida elections on the Broward County Board of Elections, a department that was caught in ballot-counting scandals in both 2000 and 2016.

He alleged that Broward County's delayed vote-tallying is illegal because laws require votes to be posted 30 minutes after polls close — but as Dan Sweeney of the South Florida Sun Sentinel noted, only early votes and tabulated vote by mail ballots must be posted within that time frame.

"Unofficial returns have to be submitted to Sec. of State by noon the fourth day after the election -- two days from now," Sweeney wrote. "It's all there on the Div. of Elections website of the state you represent."

Fred Guttenburg, the father of slain Parkland victim Jaime Guttenburg who lives in Broward County, was not a fan of Rubio's claim.

"What a load of crap to say counting votes is stealing," the Parkland dad-turned-gun-control-advocate tweeted. "Shame on you."

"I personally know families who sent in ballots that have not yet been counted and they did everything right," he added. "Whoever wins a full and accurate count, so be it. That is called Democracy."

Check out more responses to Rubio's erroneous claim that Democrats are trying to steal the Florida elections below: