Manchester, NH- In an interview Sunday with Jonathan Karl for ABC’s “This Week”, Senator Marco Rubio (R- FL) said that that he’s ready to be President, although there are “multiple other people” who are also ready to do the same.
He has not made an official bid, but he’s been using most of the strategies that a potential candidate would: fundraising, appearing in New Hampshire, hiring national staff, and campaigning for fellow Republicans.
Rubio told Karl that if he does run, he will not seek re-election for Senate. “If I decide to run for President, I will not have some sort of exit strategy to run for the Senate,” Rubio said. “I believe that if you want to be President of The United States, you run for President. You don’t run for President with some eject button in the cockpit that allows you to go on an exit ramp if it doesn’t work out.”
“Do you think you’re ready to be President?” Karl asked. Rubio replied, “I do, but I think that’s true for multiple other people that would want to run.” Rubio explained that he’s been in office long enough to gain the necessary experience to be President. “I mean, I’ll be 43 this month, but the other thing that perhaps people don’t realize, I’ve served now in public office for the better part of 14 years. Most importantly, I think a president has to have a clear vision of where the country needs to go and clear ideas about how to get it there, and I think we’re very blessed in our party to have a number of people that fit that criteria.”
“The question is, whose vision is the one that our party wants to follow,” Rubio told Karl.
In an April 2014 New Hampshire poll, Rubio was polling at 2%, only ahead of Rick Perry in last place at 1% and far behind Rand Paul with 15% and Paul Ryan with 13%. Just over a year ago, Rubio was tied with Rand Paul at 15%.
Regarding the recent poll, Rubio laughed, saying that “it’s probably the Time cover jinx, just like Sports Illustrated. Polls are everywhere all the time. I don’t really pay a lot of attention to them.”
Rubio went on to discuss immigration reform and the investigation of the Benghazi scandal. He quickly criticized the current administration, saying that “no one’s been held accountable”. When Karl asked how much of the Benghazi scandal will be problematic for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s potential run for President, Rubio said, “I’m sure she’s going to go out bragging about her time in the State Department. She’s also going to have to be held accountable for its failings.”
The interview concluded with discussion of recent scientific findings about climate change, with Rubio dismissing much of it. “I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it. That’s what I do not. And I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it, except it will destroy our economy.”
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