He made this statement at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire on Wednesday when he was asked to choose a person who is not a politician to sit down with and drink some brews.
The freshman senator picked the 18-year-old Pakistani activist, despite the fact that she is still a teenager and forbidden to consume alcohol under Islamic law.
Rubio asked who he’d want to have a beer with who’s not a politician. He says Malala. Is that legal yet?
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) November 4, 2015
Malala was flown to Britain for treatment after the Pakistani Taliban tried to kill her in October 2012, and now lives here with her family. Malala became a global icon after the Taliban attack in 2012. But she remains a figure of hate for many Pakistanis who resent having the country’s problems aired abroad.
Malala, who hopes one day to be prime minister of Pakistan, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 jointly with India’s Kailash Satyarthi for promoting education rights for children.
