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Salt Bae Hugged Venezuelan Leader Nicolás Maduro, So Marco Rubio Doxxed Him

2018!

David Mack BuzzFeed News Reporter

Remember Salt Bae?

Instagram: @nusr_et

Of course you do.

He's Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe, who went viral last year for the very extra way that he salted his meats because that was a thing that apparently happened in 2017.

Anyway, Gökçe owns a number of restaurants, including one in the Turkish city of Istanbul, where Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stopped by Monday to dine on his way back from a recent trip to China.

Salt Bae posted this video to his Twitter account, showing him welcoming Maduro with a big, friendly hug.

Twitter: @nusr_ett

Another video showed Salt Bae personally preparing (and presumably salting) Maduro's steak.

There's just one big problem with Maduro: He's in charge of a regime that has thrown Venezuela into chaos.

Federico Parra / AFP / Getty Images

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The Latin American country is struggling with shortages of food and medicine, as inflation and crime soar.

Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP / Getty Images

So people were a little pissed that Salt Bae appeared to think Maduro was, well, bae.

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Some wondered whether Salt Bae was "uncultured and ignorant."

"Salt Bae is canceled," wrote one person.

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Another said he hoped Maduro got food poisoning.

Venezuelan opposition leader Julio Borges shared his thoughts on Twitter.

"While Venezuelans suffer and die of hunger, Nicolás Maduro and [first lady] Cilia enjoy one of the priciest restaurants in the world, all with money stolen from the Venezuelan people," he tweeted.

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Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was particularly pissed.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

He panned Salt Bae for feeding a dictator.

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And he urged his followers to call Salt Bae's Miami restaurant in protest.

Which started a whole new cycle of people accusing Rubio, a public official, of doxxing or harassing a private citizen.

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Some noted that in June, Rubio had been opposed to the politicization of "dining" after Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was booted from a restaurant.

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This person said Rubio was being hypocritical.

Whatever you thought of Rubio's tweet, the whole thing was undeniably on brand for 2018.

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Salt Bae later deleted his social media posts praising Maduro.

Jerritt Clark / Getty Images

Representatives for both him and Rubio didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

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