Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said Wednesday that debate “theatrics” from GOP presidential rivals Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas may be entertaining, but that there’s no time for such distractions.
Mr. Rubio said the next president has to have a real plan “to turn the page on Obama and his disastrous policies, and they have to be willing and able to sell that plan to the American people.”
“That’s why these debates are so important,” he said in a statement.
Mr. Trump’s campaign says he will not participate in Thursday’s GOP debate in Iowa and that Fox News host Megyn Kelly wouldn’t be a fair moderator. Mr. Cruz subsequently challenged Mr. Trump to a one-on-one debate anytime before the Iowa caucuses on Monday.
“These kinds of theatrics by Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are an entertaining sideshow, but they have nothing to do with defeating Hillary Clinton,” Mr. Rubio said. “I’m going to stay focused on uniting the Republican party so we can defeat Hillary Clinton and turn the page on eight years of liberal failure. We don’t have time for these kinds of distractions.”
Mr. Rubio — who will be participating in the debate — is in third place in Iowa, behind Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz, in the latest RealClearPolitics average.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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