Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said Wednesday he’s going to continue criticizing President Obama for what Mr. Rubio called an intentional effort to weaken America’s standing in the world and that he went into Saturday’s GOP presidential debate hoping Republicans didn’t have to attack one another.
“All these guys repeat over and over again. I mean, every single one of them, I can give you five lines they say every single day,” Mr. Rubio said on “Fox and Friends.”
“But beyond that, let me just say that the difference is this: I went into that debate in the hopes that Republicans didn’t have to attack one another,” he said. “I didn’t want to spend … 60 seconds beating up on another Republican, because I think it helps the Democrats. Hillary Clinton would pay for us to do that all night long.”
Mr. Rubio was put on the defensive at Saturday’s debate by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who hit him for appearing overly scripted as Mr. Rubio repeated similar criticisms about Mr. Obama’s intentions for the country.
As returns showed Mr. Rubio running fifth in the New Hampshire GOP presidential primary Tuesday, he acknowledged he did not do well on Saturday night and pledged to his supporters that it wouldn’t happen again.
Mr. Rubio said Wednesday the argument that he has no experience is “absurd.”
“It’s true I haven’t lived as long as some of the people running for president, but I have more foreign policy experience than any of them — a lot more,” he said.
“One of the things I’m criticized for is saying the truth, and I’ll continue to say this: Barack Obama is undermining this country, he is hurting this country, he is doing serious damage to this country in a way that I believe is part of a plan to weaken America on the global stage,” Mr. Rubio said. “This is the truth.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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