TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio made a bizarre comment that election drop boxes could be blown up, as he debated the topic of election integrity during Tuesday night’s Florida Senate debate against Democratic opponent Rep. Val Demings.

The senator said, “There’s danger involved in drop boxes. People need to think about it.”

He said, “Imagine if someone decides, ‘Oh there’s a drop box, I’m just going to put some explosive in it and blow it up and burn all of those ballots.’ And now those votes don’t count at all.”

His remarks came after Rep. Demings pointed to the fact that the number of drop boxes had been reduced following the 2020 election.

“Why do that, particularly, in certain areas, senator?” Demings asked. “Your job is to make sure that every person votes — the ones that may vote for you and the ones that may not vote for you.”

She added, “Florida has an election law police force, and if the laws are so wonderful, what’s the need for that?”

Rubio fired back saying, “I’ve never supported any suppression. How come all of a sudden, a drop box is the standard by which we judge whether people are being allowed to vote or not? We didn’t have drop boxes 10 years ago, in 2016, when the congresswoman was first elected to congress.”

He added that the comparison to the “Jim Crow era,” when people were barred or murdered trying to cast ballots, was unfair.

“In Florida, you can now vote by mail for any reason, you can vote 10 days before the election, you can vote on election day,” Rubio said. “We’re talking about this, when you go to vote, you show an ID.

“I’ve been a Hispanic man my entire life – I’m a minority. I’ve never felt like producing an ID disadvantaged my ability to vote. Everyone has an ID. You can’t even check into a hotel, or buy Sudafed at Walgreens without an ID.”

The two exchanged heated words across a variety of topics from gun laws and abortion to the economy and the threat of overseas conflict. For a deeper dive into the major topics, click here.

To watch the debate in its entirety, click here.