Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) slammed left-wing Hollywood star Sean Penn for interviewing the escaped Mexican drug lord known as "El Chapo," calling Penn's actions "grotesque" Sunday on ABC's This Week.
The extraordinary tale of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman took a surreal twist late Saturday when Rolling Stone published a secret interview that the drug kingpin apparently gave to actor Sean Penn while on the run.
Penn wrote that met Guzman face-to-face in a jungle clearing, along with Mexican film and television star Kate del Castillo who had been interested in making a film telling the fugitive's story.
The encounter took place in October, as Mexican authorities searched for Guzman following his escape from a maximum-security prison in July, Penn wrote.
ABC host George Stephanpoulos, at the conclusion of their interview about the 2016 campaign for the Republican nomination, asked Rubio what he thought of the revelations about Penn.
"Mexican authorities are now investigating," Stephanopoulos asked, "Do you have any problem with what he did?"
"Sean Penn is not someone I spend a lot of time thinking about," Rubio said. "I didn't even know he was still around. I think he made movies a long time ago or something … If one of these American actors who have benefited from the greatness of this country, who have made money from our free enterprise system, want to go fawn all over a criminal and a drug trafficker in their interviews, they have a constitutional right to do it. I find it grotesque."
Rubio added he hoped Guzman was extradited to the United States, something Mexico is willing to do according to reports.
Penn, a two-time Oscar winner for Best Actor, is pictured shaking hands with Guzman, one of the most notorious criminals in recent history, in a recent Rolling Stone tweet.