Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe, or Salt Bae, has drawn the ire of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) after videos surfaced of the chef hugging and serving Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
Rubio blasted Gökçe—who went viral last year after he Instagrammed a video of him sprinkling salt onto a piece of meat—for serving Maduro at one of his restaurants.
The chef served the president, who has been criticized for his leadership in Venezuela—where many of its citizens are reportedly living in poverty and without proper access to food—at a restaurant in Istanbul, WPLG 10, a local news station in Florida, reports.
Salt Bae posted videos of Maduro at his restaurant on his Instagram account before deleting them, according to the Miami Herald.
Salt Bae chef in hot water after serving Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro https://t.co/TelmJmnZDl pic.twitter.com/9oSQjc1RUA
— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) September 18, 2018
The Herald, which downloaded the video before it was deleted, reports that the video showed Maduro smoking a cigar and receiving a shirt showing Gökçe sprinkling salt.
The images of Salt Bae and Maduro together was too much for Rubio to handle, however, and he asked his 3.63 million followers to make their opinions known to the viral chef.
“I don’t know who this weirdo #Saltbae is, but the guy he is so proud to host is not the President of #Venezuela. He is actually the overweight dictator of a nation where 30% of the people eat only once a day & infants are suffering from malnutrition,” Rubio wrote in a series of tweets. “This guy @nusr_ett who admires dictator @NicolasMaduro so much actually owns a steakhouse in, of all places, #Miami. It’s called NUSR-ET STEAKHOUSE MIAMI…”
The senator also posted the phone number and address of the restaurant in a string of tweets that started last night and is still going on this morning.
I don’t know who this weirdo #Saltbae is, but the guy he is so proud to host is not the President of #Venezuela. He is actually the overweight dictator of a nation where 30% of the people eat only once a day & infants are suffering from malnutrition. https://t.co/sSNPK9cAAx
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 18, 2018
This guy @nusr_ett who admires dictator @NicolasMaduro so much actually owns a steakhouse in, of all places, #Miami. It’s called NUSR-ET STEAKHOUSE MIAMI located at 999 Brickell Avenue, Miami, FL 33131
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 18, 2018
The phone number is 1 305 415 9990 in case anyone wanted to call. https://t.co/7CDkgHVZWh
Maduro se da banquete de carnes y el famoso chef Salt Bae lo agasaja como un reyhttps://t.co/llH8wJ1Pwr
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 18, 2018
#Salt Bae @nusr_ett deleted the tweet with the video of him lavishing dictator Maduro with a steak dinner while the people of #Venezuela starve. Fortunately @miamiherald downloaded it before he deleted it. Watch here:https://t.co/AC9qkFWyOw
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 18, 2018
Rubio wasn’t alone in his anger directed at the chef.
https://twitter.com/jlosbestfriend/status/1041801895604641794
Venezuelans are starving, the average citizen has lost 18 pounds because of malnutrition. But Nicolas Maduro thought his subjects might enjoy a video of him gorging himself at a “Salt Bae” restaurant in Turkey. https://t.co/aKtTNA7pyi
— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) September 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/brooklynjnoubi/status/1041798118721941505
https://twitter.com/realgabymedina/status/1041877567299612672
Until this moment I was a fan of Chef Salt Bae. After just watching how he proudly served Nicolas Maduro, the most horrific President of Venezuela, I’m utterly disgusted. He has starved his country for years and is personally responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths!
— Matt1313 (@Mattov7nov) September 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/___q____5____/status/1041803436596109313
While more than 80% of Venezuelans are forced into poverty and extreme hunger, Maduro and Cilia have the luxury of being a huge eater in an exclusive restaurant in Turkey, served by chef Salt Bae where each dish costs no less than 400 $
— Mel Marcano ® (@MelMarcano) September 18, 2018
What outrage!
https://twitter.com/JRMBlakey/status/1041795483818250240
As of Tuesday morning, Gökçe has not addressed the situation on any of his social media accounts, apart from deleting the videos.
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