Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) appeared on Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity’s nationally-syndicated radio program Wednesday to explain seemingly contradictory statements to Spanish and English audiences about the pending Senate immigration bill.
According to the Washington Examiner’s Byron York, Rubio told Hannity that he “probably should have been more artful in the use of terms” when he claimed on Univision that the bill first legalizes America’s at least 11 million illegal immigrants, then provides for increased border security after.
“Let’s be clear, nobody is talking about preventing the legalization,” Rubio said on Univision’s Al Punto Sunday. “The legalization is going to happen. That means the following will happen: first comes the legalization. Then come the measures to secure the border. And then comes the process of permanent residence.”
Rubio went on to say during that Univision interview that such “legalization” measures in this bill are “not conditional.”
The Florida Senator has presented information differently when interviewed on programs with primarily English-speaking audiences. For instance, as Hannity noted during his interview with Rubio on Wednesday, “I remember when I first interviewed you about this and I asked you very specifically, ‘Do you support border security first,’ and your answer was ‘yes.'”
Rubio responded: “Right, but it is border security before the green card. The problem is in the interim you have to do something with the people who are here illegally so we know who they are.”
Editor’s Note: this article and its headline have been updated.