Sen. Marco Rubio took shots at Donald Trump and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush over their lack of foreign policy experience while talking himself up as the only one able to take on the challenges abroad in the GOP field.
While speaking at a town hall in Okatie, South Carolina, Rubio said that neither Trump or Bush had any kind of foreign policy experience.
“Here is the job a president must do: keep America safe. And that means having a president that understands the threats that we face. I say this to you now without a bit of hesitation: There is no one left in the Republican field who has more experience or has proven to have better judgment on national security than I have,” Rubio said.
“Donald Trump has zero foreign policy experience. Negotiating a hotel deal with another country is not foreign policy experience,” Rubio said before turning to Bush. “Jeb Bush has no foreign policy experience, and I’m an incredible admirer of him and his family. I thank God George W. Bush was president of the United States instead of Al Gore on Sept. 11th.”
Rubio also invoked Sen. Ted Cruz in the group, saying he has a “little bit” of foreign policy experience, before noting that the only defense budget he voted for was sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul, which he says “bragged” about cutting defense spending.
The Florida senator’s comments piggyback off yesterday’s, when he first said that Bush was too inexperienced on the national stage. They also come a day after Rubio returned to Washington to vote to impose sanctions on North Korea.
“National security is the single greatest obligation of the commander in chief,” Rubio added later to the S.C. crowd.
According to the latest RealClearPolitics average, Rubio sits third behind Trump and Cruz with 12.7 percent support as he tries to bounce back after a fifth place showing in New Hampshire on Tuesday.
