Florida Sen. Marco Rubio bashed GOP front-runner Donald Trump a day after the real estate mogul called the use of eminent domain “wonderful.”
After a campaign stop at a tech company in New Hampshire, Rubio told The Weekly Standard that Trump is “wrong” on the issue, adding that private property is “one of the most important rights” given to Americans.
“He’s wrong,” Rubio said. “In Florida, when I was a state legislator, we passed what has become model legislation for other states around the country — that I actually passed — both a law and a constitutional amendment that keeps developers like Donald Trump from using eminent domain to take private property away from an owner and give it to another private owner, which is what the Kelo decision said should be legal unless states barred it.
“So he’s wrong about that,” Rubio said. “One of the most important rights Americans have is private property.”
The Florida senator’s comments come a day after Trump defended the practice, especially in instances where the creation of “massive jobs” is at stake.
“I think eminent domain is wonderful. If you’re building a highway … and you’re going to be blocked by a hold-out — I think eminent domain for massive projects — for instance you’re going to create massive jobs and you have somebody that’s in the way, and you pay that person far more … is fine,” Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier Tuesday.
Trump remains in first place in the Washington Examiner‘s power rankings while Rubio is in fourth.
