After declining to insult Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump during the second GOP debate, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio finally took off his gloves during an interview Thursday morning.
Rubio, who holds the No. 3 spot in the Washington Examiner‘s latest presidential power rankings, took a break from politics during his first few minutes on Kentucky Sports Radio Thursday to praise the University of Kentucky’s star quarterback, Patrick Towles. But when the conversation shifted to Trump, the junior senator’s observations were anything but positive.
“Well, first of all, he takes shots at everybody who gets anywhere close to him in terms of a poll, or anytime he hits a rough spot. That’s what he does,” Rubio said.
Earlier in the interview, Rubio refused to criticize fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul who, unlike Rubio, has decided to simultaneously run for president and re-election to the Senate in 2016. The Florida senator didn’t hold back, however, when asked about Trump.
“He had a really bad debate performance last week, he’s not well-informed on the issues – he really never talks about issues and can’t have more than a 10-second sound bite on any key issue,” Rubio said. “And so I think he’s kind of been exposed a little bit over the last seven days.
The Florida Republican, who recently replaced former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the No. 2 spot among Republican voters in his home state, described Trump as a “very touchy and insecure guy.”
“That’s how he reacts, and people can see through it,” Rubio said.
Indeed, Trump’s mercurial temperament was on full display Wednesday when he announced his decision to boycott Fox News for their “unfair” treatment. The network later responded with a statement accusing the billionaire of misunderstanding “how the media works in this country.”
Trump went on Wednesday evening and early Thursday to target Rubio and Carly Fiorina, both of whom have seen an uptick in support since their performances in the last week’s Republican debate.
“He was going to run because he’s overly ambitious, too young – and I have better hair than he does, right?” Trump reportedly said of Rubio during a speech to supporters in South Carolina Wednesday.
Unlike that of Trump’s, Rubio said Thursday that his campaign message is forward-looking and is backed up by practical policies.
“My argument is if we can modernize our policies, turn the page from outdated leaders and really embrace these new policies for the 21st century, America’s going to be better than it’s ever been,” he said. “I just feel like in this race, I’m the only one that’s talking about it this way.”
“And most certainly [in] comparison to the individual you just mentioned,” Rubio continued, referring to Trump.
