Moderator pushes Rubio to answer question on 2022 election results or pledge to stay in the race, but Rubio holds firm
President Donald Trump, who has attacked Rubio’s decision not to say he would run for re-election, is not the only one asking about it.
GOP presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said Thursday afternoon that he would not reveal whether he will run for re-election in 2022 until after voters have voted on the president’s tax plan.
“I plan on making my decision after the voters vote on it,” Rubio told reporters in Miami after his speech on the Florida’s economy. “I want to be clear and tell the American people. A couple of hours ago, I said I was going to make that decision after the elections. After having that conversation, it was evident that I won’t be running after that.”
It’s certainly the case that not giving the American people a yes or no answer to the question of whether you intend to run for re-election is not ideal for a potential candidate. It also doesn’t leave Republicans looking good — or Democrats looking good — if they are able to use non-answers as a bargaining chip later.
The fact that Rubio was pressed on it this morning, and that he decided against answering it in the first place seems to suggest he doesn’t really want to tell voters whether or not he intends to run for re-election.
And it makes the question even more important to know so voters don’t vote for a candidate who doesn’t plan to run in two years. It also makes Rubio’s decision even more interesting, and it also makes Rubio’s decision even more interesting from a political calculation point of view.
Rubio didn’t just win a primary — he triumphed in the South Florida primary, one of the more important of the many competitive primaries that take place in the 2016 cycle, taking his total number of primary wins to 35.
On the Republican side, Trump is leading among Democrats, but he is not leading among Republicans. The latest Morning Consult-Morning Consult poll shows Trump leading the field of Democratic candidates by 15 points. Ted Cruz is leading among Republican voters by 12 points, but only leading