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Over the last several weeks, a variety of prominent Republicans have entered an unfortunate race to the bottom. From House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik to Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina to Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, Republicans who believe they’re in contention for their party’s vice presidential nomination have gone to great lengths to abandon any sense of shame in the hopes of impressing Donald Trump and his team.
The race, however, is still adding competitors.
NBC News reported last week that Sen. Marco Rubio is “moving up the list” of the former president’s possible running mates. A day later, the Florida Republican — who withdrew from vice presidential consideration in 2016 — sounded open to the idea.
“Anybody who would be offered the chance to serve their country as vice president should consider that to be an honor,” the senator told NBC News. “I mean, that’s why I’m in public service.” Rubio added, however, that he hasn’t spoken to anyone on Team Trump about the possibility.
It was against this backdrop that Rubio sat down with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl on “This Week,” and as HuffPost noted, the host reminded the GOP lawmaker about the recent past.
ABC News’ Jonathan Karl took Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on a “quick trip down memory lane” with questions about Donald Trump on Sunday as the former president reportedly eyes him as a possible running mate. Karl, on the latest edition of “This Week,” asked the Florida Republican about calling Trump a “con artist” in 2016.
More than once during the interview, Rubio tried to explain away his 2016 rhetoric by saying, “It was a campaign.”
At first blush, this might sound compelling. For as long as there have been primaries, intraparty rivals have been known to throw elbows, only to link arms — often grudgingly — ahead of the general election. Rubio is effectively asking for a pass, suggesting his comments were made in the heat of the moment.
But it’s not that simple. For one thing, Rubio didn’t just question Trump’s policy positions or his voting record, which are normal parts of a primary fight. Rather, the senator was personal and specific. When Rubio and Trump were rivals, the senator insisted that the future president was a “con man,” a “lunatic,” and a “con artist” — assessments have become even more accurate over time. Rubio also told audiences that Trump might urinate on himself, which was around the time that the GOP lawmaker made vulgar jokes about Trump’s genitals.
In June 2016, Rubio told voters that Trump was so “dangerous” that he couldn’t be trusted with nuclear secrets. (This also proved prescient when Trump brought classified nuclear secrets to his glorified country club and refused to give them back.)
The senator’s campaign, quite literally, sold #NeverTrump swag on its website.
Then, after the primary phase of the 2016 race was over, Rubio told The Miami Herald that he wouldn’t take any of his comments back. “I’ve stood by everything I ever said in my campaign,” the senator told the newspaper’s editorial board.
Either Rubio still maintains this position or he doesn’t. Simply saying, “It was a campaign,” as he did yesterday, doesn’t wipe the slate clean.
As for the rest of the ABC News interview, the senator proceeded to suggest that President Joe Biden is to blame to ISIS-K’s deadly shooting in Moscow; the United States was “safer” under Trump (despite the fact that crime rates improved after Trump left office); and gang violence in Haiti can somehow be blamed on the Democratic incumbent, too.
When Karl asked whether he was actually blaming Biden for all unwelcome international developments, Rubio responded, “Absolutely I am.”
Before wrapping up, the senator suggested it was unfair to prosecute some Jan. 6 criminals, just because they broke the law.
In the GOP’s race to the bottom, there are no winners.