Florida Sen. Marco Rubio shot back Monday at Donald Trump’s weekend claim that the election is rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton, saying that Trump should “stop saying that” while arguing that Floridians should “absolutely” have confidence in the integrity of the November elections.
Rubio made the remark during Monday’s Florida Senate debate with Rep. Patrick Murphy, telling ABC News’ Jon Karl that the election in Florida will not be a “67 county conspiracy.” He also pointed to his trust in Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican who supports Trump.
“Absolutely. This election is not being rigged,” Rubio said when asked if he has faith in the November election results. “And I’m going to explain to you why it’s not being rigged in Florida and why I hope he stops saying that — he should stop saying that. We have 67 counties in this state, each of which conduct their own elections. I promise you there is not a 67 county conspiracy to rig this election.”
“Second, the governor of the state of Florida is a Republican who appoints the people that run the division of election,” Rubio continued. “Third, there’s no evidence behind any of this, so this should not continue to be said. Do I believe people should have confidence? Yes. And do I believe they should vote? Absolutely.”
The former Republican presidential candidate also said that it would be a “tragedy” if many Floridians gave up their right to vote after many fled Cuba in order to live in a Democratic nation.
“And let me add to this. This is a state that literally has millions of people who came here because they couldn’t vote in the nation of their birth,” Rubio said. “It would be a tragedy if they gave up their vote here as well.”
According to the latest RealClearPolitics average, Rubio leads Murphy, a two-term congressman, by a 4.7-point margin, taking 47 percent support to Murphy’s 42.3 percent.
