Marco Rubio ad slams Val Demings for Joe Biden VP consideration

Sen. Marco Rubio’s re-election campaign released a digital ad Monday contrasting the Republican with his likely Democratic opponent.

The minute-long ad, entitled “The Choice is Clear,” contrasts Rubio and his work on the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP), which floated forgivable loans to businesses early in the pandemic, with Rep. Val Demings being considered as Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020.

Demings didn’t openly stump for the opening beyond offering a series of bland answers in interviews that she wouldn’t turn it down. But those clips were more than enough for the Rubio camp to exploit in a spot, linking Demings with a Democratic President who is underwater in most public opinion polls.

The ad begins silently, with a graphic of a pensive Demings and a leading question: “COVID struck and where was Val?”

From there, clips roll of national hosts Ellen DeGeneres, Whoopi Goldberg and Jimmy Kimmel asking about Demings’ interest in running as the VP, setting up the assertion that “while Val focused on politics, Marco got to work.”

A succession of local news clips approving of the PPP program followed, discussing how it saved jobs and setting up the assertion that “Marco created PPP. Val played party politics.”

“I would be honored to serve alongside Joe Biden,” Demings says in a closing clip, as the final graphic proclaims that the “choice is clear” between the candidates.

“Val Demings was more concerned with auditioning to be Joe Biden’s running mate than helping the people of Florida through an unprecedented pandemic,” Elizabeth Gregory, Rubio for Senate spokeswoman, told Insider, which got the first look at the ad Monday morning. “The contrast couldn’t be more clear: Marco Rubio delivers results, and Val Demings plays party politics.”

Despite his role in pushing the PPP program, Rubio was not entirely removed from party politics in 2020, often bashing Biden in interviews amid the Democratic nominee’s challenge to then-President Donald Trump.

Rubio participated in rallies down the stretch, including an appearance in Hialeah near the election where he seemed to back aggressive behavior on a Texas highway from Trump supporters toward Biden backers, who thought they were being run off the road by the Trump backers.

“We love what they did, but here’s the thing they don’t know,” Rubio said. “We do that in Florida every day.”

See the new Rubio spot here.