Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said Thursday that he is aligned with the conservative Koch brothers on most issues and would “love” to win their support in the 2016 presidential race.
In a conference call hosted by the Koch-funded Americans For Prosperity, Mr. Rubio was asked about a report in USA Today in which Charles Koch said that he and his brother David, who run the sprawling Koch industries, are open to supporting Mr. Rubio in the presidential race.
Mr. Koch also said they could support former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, as well as Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky.
On Thursday, Mr. Rubio said he wants the support of everyone and said he has “tremendous admiration for the Koch family.”
“I would love to earn their support,” Mr. Rubio said, adding, “I think generally we are clearly aligned on issues.”
The comments came toward the end of a conference call in which Mr. Rubio and leaders of AFP made the case against reauthorizing the Export-Import bank.
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Mr. Koch told USA Today this week that he and his brother have not settled on a single candidate, but said they might.
“What we’ve told them all is that right now, we’re not supporting anyone,” Mr. Koch said. “We’re telling them that if they want our support, one way to get it is articulating a good message to help Americans get a better understanding and a better appreciation of how certain policies … will benefit them and will benefit all America.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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