Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) says he will decide on a potential 2016 presidential run “in the coming weeks.” He’ll do so without the help of a pro-amnesty adviser and former chief of staff who has left his office.
“For me, the decision is made based on the following: I have my agenda that I have talked about for more than 4 years, and the decision that I have to make is where is the best place to advance this agenda—as a presidential candidate or continue at the majority in the Senate—that is a decision I will make in the coming weeks along with my family, because it requires a whole series of things,” Rubio said Friday on a Colombian radio show, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Cesar Conda, who has had ties to George Soros and has been praised by some of the most pro-amnesty leaders on the left, reportedly left Rubio’s office to go back to lobbying. Conda was his chief of staff and then had moved over to his political action committee. Rubio was considered a 2016 frontrunner and was leading in early polls in Iowa before he championed the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” amnesty bill right after Republicans lost the 2012 presidential election. His poll numbers immediately plummeted.
Before Democrats took a thumping in the midterms, Rubio implied that it was more likely he would run for president if Democrats retained control of the Senate, saying “the decision I have to make is can I best do that as a Senator, or can I best do that as running and hopefully winning the presidency.”
“And that’s a question I’ll have more clarity on after this midterm, because I can promise you this, the one place where I will not be able to do that from is a Senate that is still run by Harry Reid, that allows no votes on anything of substance or importance,” Rubio said during a Face the Nation appearance.