Donald Trump ‘doesn’t think about Marco Rubio’; he ‘doesn’t mean anything to him’: adviser

An adviser to Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Friday that Mr. Trump “doesn’t think about” Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and that Mr. Rubio “doesn’t mean anything to him,” amid a war of words between the two GOP contenders that has been taking place in recent days.

Michael Cohen, executive vice president of the Trump Organization and special counsel to Mr. Trump, said Mr. Trump did not go after Mr. Rubio, but that he responded and then Mr. Rubio “responded back.”

“He doesn’t want to pick a fight, but if you pick a fight with him, you’re gonna lose,” Mr. Cohen said on CNN’s “New Day.”

On Wednesday in South Carolina, Mr. Trump had criticized Mr. Rubio’s attendance record in the U.S. Senate and made fun of his personal finances. On Thursday morning on CNN, Mr. Trump called Mr. Rubio a “kid” who shouldn’t be running for president. Mr. Rubio later said Thursday on Kentucky Sports Radio that Mr. Trump is a “very touchy and insecure guy” who’s not well-informed on the issues.

Mr. Cohen was asked, though, whether the attention had anything to do with Mr. Rubio’s increasing poll numbers. He was read some of the numbers from a new CNN/WMUR poll on New Hampshire that showed Mr. Trump in first at 26 percent, followed by businesswoman Carly Fiorina at 16 percent and Mr. Rubio at 9 percent, up 6 points from July.

“Oh, wow — I mean, these numbers are just astronomical for Marco Rubio,” Mr. Cohen said.

“If there’s a debate tomorrow, Mr. Trump is still front and center. He’s still eight times higher in the polls than Marco Rubio,” he said. “He doesn’t think about Marco Rubio. Marco Rubio doesn’t mean anything to him.”

“And as far as foreign policy, what gives Marco Rubio the right to talk about foreign policy?” Mr. Cohen said.

Host Alisyn Camerota noted that Mr. Rubio is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“And look at where we’re at as far as this country is concerned,” Mr. Cohen said. “We are a disaster in this country as far as foreign policy. We’re not respected by any country in this world, we’re treated terribly … by our enemies who we make into allies and our allies, we treat them like enemies. This is not a man who belongs in the White House.”