Marco Rubio denied that he was endorsing Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign Wednesday, saying he has no intention to supporting anyone at this point in the GOP nomination contest.
Rubio told reporters that he will not be endorsing in the race for the foreseeable future, adding that he’s focusing on finishing out his term in the U.S. Senate.
“I’m not endorsing in this race right now,” Rubio told reporters. “I don’t have any announcement to make. I was just answering the question.”
When asked about his past attacks of Cruz during the campaign, the Florida senator reportedly said that he was “not discussing the campaign, I’m here working.”
The comments came a day after Rubio sat down for his first interview with radio host Mark Levin since ending his presidential campaign after a loss in Florida to Donald Trump. The Florida senator told Levin that he wants a conservative to win the nomination, and that the only one remaining in the race to fit the bill is Cruz.
“I’ve been pretty clear that I want the Republican nominee to be a conservative,” Rubio told the radio host. “And in my view, at this moment, of the candidates that are still actively campaigning, the only one that fits that criteria is Ted Cruz. I’ve said that publicly.”
He also touched on his decision to keep his 173 delegates bound on the first ballot at the Republican nomination convention. Rubio continues to sit third in the delegate standings, ahead of Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s 145.
“And as far as the delegates that we’ve earned, they’re bound on the first ballot, and I want to make sure that they’re there on the first ballot,” Rubio said. “After that, as you know, these delegates, many of them will be free to vote for another candidate and I hope that they’ll nominate a conservative. I think the Republican Party has to be the home of the conservative movement. If not, it loses it’s reason to exist as an organization.”
