Phil Ammann
Newly declared presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio spoke with CBS’s Bob Schieffer on Friday from the campaign trail in New Hampshire’s Manchester Community College. The interview will aired on Sunday morning’s “Face the Nation” talker.
As reported by Mike Allen in POLITICO, highlights have Rubio reflecting on a number of issues he will face on the road to the White House, including his long-standing relationship with soon-to-be-announced candidate, and former mentor, Jeb Bush.
“[H]e’s going be a very strong candidate,” Rubio said of the former Florida governor. “And I have a tremendous personal affection and admiration for him. … [I]t’s a unique situation. … But, there comes a point in time where if you have … a legitimate opportunity to serve your country at its highest office, … it’s an opportunity I had to take seriously. … It won’t change how I feel about Governor Bush. He’ll remain my friend.”
As for his main opponent, Democratic front-runner and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “I believe a Clinton presidency would basically be another four years of Barack Obama. … I’ve not seen her distinguish herself on a single issue from what the President is doing now. I think that’s particularly true on foreign policy.”
“We cannot ignore that she was the Secretary of State during the first four years of the Obama Presidency,” he said. “And has virtually no meaningful achievement to show for it.”
Rubio also warns about the “disastrous” foreign policy of the Obama administration. The Florida senator, son of Cuban refugees, has made foreign policy a critical issue of his presidential platform. Rubio sits on several Senate committees, including the Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, & Global Women’s Issues, and the Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, & Counterterrorism and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“On the contrary, whether it’s the reset in Russia, or our response to Benghazi, or everything in between,” he told Schieffer, “the Obama foreign policy — during the Clinton years especially, as Secretary of State, — have been a disaster for America.
“Today, our allies trust us less. Our enemies fear us less. And America has less influence in the world today than it did four to six years ago.”
Next year, voters will have a “generational choice” and Rubio says he is the right person for the job.
