Florida Sen. Marco Rubio plans to steer clear of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in tonight’s GOP debate.
The Republican hopeful said Tuesday evening on Fox News’ “The Kelly File” that he views each debate as “an opportunity to tell people who I am and what I’ll do if they give me the chance to serve them as president.”
“It’s a chance to speak to a lot of Americans — millions of Americans — who are trying to make up their minds and I honestly think that despite our challenges, we have the chance to usher in one of the greatest eras in American history,” he told host Megyn Kelly.
Despite his safe performance in the first Republican primary debate, Rubio has remained relatively stagnant in national polls of GOP voters in the weeks since. In the latest Washington Examiner presidential power rankings, Rubio dropped to sixth place behind Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina.
Though the Florida senator has seen minor fluctuations in support recently, RealClearPolitics’ latest polling average shows him at 5.3 percent heading into tonight’s debate — exactly where he stood on Aug. 6, the night of the first Republican debate.
Nevertheless, Rubio said Tuesday that he will not resort to attacking Trump or calculating a “standout moment” ahead of time in order to attract voters.
“Other people may want to do that, [but] I’m just going to continue to try to do well in terms of explaining who I am and what I want to do, and I do think over time that has a cumulative effect as voters get ready to make up their minds,” he told Kelly.
He added, “in the end this is not a game show, it is deciding the most important political office in the world.”
In an email to supporters Wednesday morning, Rubio’s campaign manager, Terry Sullivan, said the second debate isn’t about “attacking other candidates” for the Florida Republican.
Meanwhile, several of Rubio’s Republican rivals have said they will not hesitate to go after Trump in the second prime-time debate. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Tuesday on CNN that he plans to drill the billionaire on his “conservative record.”
“I will be out shooting target practice in the morning,” Paul told CNN’s John Berman. “I will be shooting the tax code with some friends tomorrow morning, and that will be my preparation.”
Hours before the debate, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina told CNBC that Trump can expect to hear “a lot from me.”
