Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida pushed back Wednesday against incoming GOP fire he’s getting on his U.S. Senate attendance record, saying the attacks are evidence that his opposition is getting increasingly desperate.
“Chris Christie is a funny guy, but he’s never in New Jersey - he’s gone half the time,” Mr. Rubio said on “Fox and Friends.”
At a stop in Iowa Tuesday, Mr. Christie had criticized Mr. Rubio for not voting on the recent omnibus spending bill in Congress.
“He was totally opposed to it and didn’t go there to vote no,” Mr. Christie said. “Dude, show up to work and vote no, right? Just show up to work and vote no. And if you don’t want to, then quit.”
Mr. Rubio said he’s not in Washington, D.C. “because Washington is completely broken and that’s why I’m running for president.”
“Because these votes that are [taken] in Washington don’t count,” Mr. Rubio said. “We vote to repeal Obamacare, but unless you have a president that will sign it, it’s not going to matter. We want to strengthen our military, but unless we have a president committed to it, it won’t matter.”
A new ad from the pro-Jeb Bush Right to Rise super PAC is also going after Mr. Rubio for missing votes.
“What’s happening, unfortunately, with some of these folks that you’ve mentioned - they’re growing increasingly desperate and increasingly nasty, and that’s okay,” Mr. Rubio said. “I’m not running against them - I’m running for president.”
“[After] eight years of Barack Obama, this country cannot afford to elect just another Republican, another person who’s been waiting for their turn to run for president, and this country most certainly cannot afford Hillary Clinton, because we can’t afford four more years like the last eight,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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