Marco Rubio told radio host Hugh Hewitt that Jeb Bush entering the presidential race doesn’t hold him back from running:
Hewitt asked, according to a transcript provided by a producer:”When President Obama decided to take on Hillary Clinton, it was quite the strategic choice, because he took on a big name and a big brand, similar to what you have to do to take on Governor Bush, who is clearly running. Does having your friend in the race in any way, and some people say your mentor, hold you back?”
“No, that’s an interesting question. First of all, I think we’re going to have multiple candidates that are of high quality, and Governor Bush would be one of them. I wouldn’t be running against Jeb Bush. If I ran, I would run because I believe I’m the right person for the right time in our country’s history. And certainly, voters will make that decision, not me,” responded Rubio, according to the transcript provided by Hewitt’s producer.
“My job is to go out and do the best I can if I decide to run for president to convince them that that’s me. But I have admiration for him, and continue to have personal affection for him as well. I think he’s going to be a very strong candidate. He’s going to raise a lot of money, has a lot of smart people around him on his team. He’ll be a very significant candidate. But I don’t, I wouldn’t view it as me running against Jeb Bush. I was considering, I would consider running whether he was in the race or not in the race. And so me, it really has nothing to do with him. It has to do about where I feel like I can best serve America at this time in America’s history, and at this time in my life and my career.”
