Donald Trump urges Marco Rubio to re-enter race for Florida’s U.S. Senate seat

Donald Trump is pushing for Marco Rubio to re-enter the U.S. Senate seat he is scheduled to depart in January.

In a tweet sent Thursday evening, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee called on his former bitter rival to get back into the contest.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/736016335197458434

Trump’s statement is just the latest indication of how concerned Republicans are that they are increasingly concerned about the fate of the 2016 senate race, where no Republican has broken out of the pact despite months of campaigning.

Democrats (including President Obama and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid) have put all their chips behind Jupiter Representative Patrick Murphy in his primary against Orlando area Congressman Alan Grayson. But Murphy has been suffering from a surfeit of negative news coverage over the past few weeks, yet none of the Republicans appear as of yet to be poised to take advantage of his vulnerabilities.

Top GOP senators on Capitol Hill aren’t being very subtle in calling on Rubio to get back into the race.

“Marco Rubio is a very valuable member of the Senate … and earlier this afternoon, I strongly encouraged him to reconsider his decision and seek re-election,” Tennessee Senator Bob Corker said Thursday.

And CNN quoted Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker,  chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, as saying that the prospect of Rubio running for re-election is “certainly within the realm of possibility.”