I’M BACKING TRUMP, SAYS MARCO RUBIO
I DON’T WANT HILLARY CLINTON TO BE PRESIDENT.
Over the course of his presidential bid, Sen. Marco Rubio called Donald Trump a “con man” who was “dangerous” and unqualified to control the nation’s nuclear codes. He ridiculed his manhood and warned the businessman would “fracture” the Republican Party if he was the nominee.
By March — a few days before he dropped out — Rubio said with a cracking voice that it was “getting harder every day” to envision supporting his rival.
But now Rubio is on board, saying that he plans to attend the Republican convention in Cleveland and that he would be “honoured” to help Trump however he can.
“I want to be helpful. I don’t want to be harmful, because I don’t want Hillary Clinton to be president,” Rubio said in a CNN interview that will be aired on Sunday.
Long a star of the mainstream conservative movement, Rubio is now one of the starkest symbols of the GOP’s rapid capitulation to Trump. Nearly every prominent Republican — from lawmakers to governors to former White House officials — has acquiesced as polling shows Trump’s support building.
Rubio’s shift also comes as GOP leaders are pushing the senator from Florida to reconsider his decision not to seek re-election. Rubio has said “maybe” he would run, with conditions.
Trump thanked Rubio indirectly by issuing a tweet Thursday night supportive of a bid: “Poll data shows that @marcorubio does by far the best in holding onto his Senate seat in Florida. Important to keep the MAJORITY. Run Marco!”
The words are a remarkable about-face for Trump, who spent months during the campaign deriding “Little Marco” as a dishonest lightweight who was “a disaster for Florida” and who “couldn’t get elected dogcatcher.”
Many of Rubio’s supporters were outraged by the move, saying they felt betrayed by a 44-year-old politician who had campaigned as a young representative of a more optimistic, inclusive GOP. The episode also adds to Rubio’s reputation as a shape-shifter who abandoned his own immigration reform bill when it became unpopular among conservatives.
Bryan McGrath, a Hudson Institute fellow who advised Rubio’s campaign on defence issues, noted that Rubio had explicitly said Trump could not be trusted with the nuclear arsenal.
“He said all the things I was thinking and all the reasons I remain dubious about Trump being the president,” McGrath said in an interview Friday. “So to see him bend a knee, it just bothers me and just reinforces the thing that’s getting Trump elected in the first place: the sense that politicians don’t tell the truth or are capable of switching on a dime if it looks like it’s good for them.”
Rubio responded to the criticism with a series of Twitter messages: “If you can live with a Clinton presidency for 4 years that’s your right,” he wrote in one. “I cant and will do what I can to prevent it.”
The move came after several phone calls between Rubio and Trump in recent weeks, according to people familiar with their interactions. Some of Trump’s children also reached out to woo Rubio, these people said.
In the CNN interview, portions of which were released Thursday and Friday, Rubio said he would speak on Trump’s behalf if the candidate asked.
“I don’t want Hillary Clinton to be president,” Rubio said. “If there’s something I can do to help that from happening, and it’s helpful to the cause, I’d most certainly be honoured to be considered for that.”
He also shrugged off questions about his deep policy differences with Trump, who, among other things, has called for the mass deportation of an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
“Look, my policy differences with Donald Trump — I spent 11 months talking about them. So I think they’re well understood,” Rubio said.
Supporters back home in Florida said that Rubio’s moves reflect political reality in his own back yard.
“If you are a Republican leader, I think that’s what you have to do. Period,” said Ninoska Perez Castellon, the host of a popular talk show on Miami’s Radio Mambi and a friend of the senator since his days as a West Miami city councilman.
Many of Trump’s former rivals, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, have endorsed him, but a number of others are still holding out. Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney remains firmly opposed to Trump and has been involved in talks of trying to find a third-party challenger. Members of the Bush family — including former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who ran against Trump for the nomination — are not expected to support Trump. House Speaker Paul Ryan reiterated this week that he was not yet ready to endorse him.