Louisiana Governor and former Republican presidential candidate Bobby Jindal endorsed GOP presidential candidate Florida Senator Marco Rubio on Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.”
Jindal said, “I’m endorsing Marco Rubio to be our next president. And Greta I’m doing that for three reasons. Look, we have a lot of great candidates running. A lot of my friends are running. The reality is, these are very dangerous times. This president’s weakened our standing on the foreign stage. Our enemies don’t fear us. Our friends don’t trust us. Marco’s been consistent about strengthening America’s foreign policy.”
He added that “There are significant differences” between Rubio and the other candidates, “Marco’s consistently stood up to the threat of ISIS [and] radical Islam.”
He further said, “I’m not here to criticize the other candidates. I’ve got friends that are running. I respect them. I’ve got friends supporting other candidates. I do think Marco’s best positioned. This election’s about the future. Look, I’m an ideas guy. We’ve got to turn the page on the Obama administration. I offered detailed policies through America Next, how do we rebuild our economy. Marco’s doing that as well. And here’s the third and [most] important point, Greta, this is the most important election of our lifetime. We’ve got growing dependence on government. We’ve got more and more debt being piled on our children’s backs. Marco can unify our party. He is — his optimistic message is bringing voters from across the party lines from across different demographic groups, he can unify our party. He can win this election in November. We cannot afford four more years of this president’s disastrous policies. I think he’s a principled conservative. I think he is the right guy to lead us forward.”
When asked about whether it would be better to support a governor and those who are dissatisfied with Rubio’s immigration position, Jindal answered, “A couple of things, look, Marco’s been a principled conservative. I know some of his opponents are trying to say, ‘Well, he’s part of the establishment.’ That’s nonsense. He was a conservative when he took on Charlie Crist. He was a conservative as speaker of the House in Florida. He’s been a conservative in the United States Senate. He’s got a great record of accomplishment. I think too many people in DC get caught up on, well, how many bills do you have your names on. He’s done several things here. For example, he led the fight for sanctions on Hezbollah. He led the fight against the Obamacare bailout for insurance companies. He led the fight to give the VA to fire executives not doing their jobs.”
Jindal continued, “Those are things that he passed. But Greta, the reality is, the voters back home don’t care. People here in DC argue, ‘Well, your name’s on this bill or that bill.’ What they care about is it’s harder to get a job in this economy. What they care about is that we’ve got record numbers of Americans, under this president, on food stamps. The American Dream’s not about the government taking care of you. Marco has fought for the American Dream. We’re both children of immigrants. I don’t think he takes the American Dream for granted. I think he wakes up every day saying the American Dream is about opportunity. You should be able to work hard, get a great education, every child should be able to realize their potential. I don’t think he’ll ever take that for granted. I think he understands it’s not about government taking care of you.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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