On the Fox News Channel’s Super Tuesday coverage, GOP presidential candidate Florida Senator Marco Rubio stated that fellow candidate Texas Senator Ted Cruz had a “bad night” on Super Tuesday and wondered, if Cruz “cannot sweep on Super Tuesday…where in this country is he going to win?” While he would win Florida and “other winner take all states.” Rubio added that he wouldn’t get out even if he didn’t win Florida and plans to campaign in all 50 states.
Rubio said, “I think the analysis has to be re-calibrated here. First of all, this is the proportional stage of the campaign. So, no one is taking home all of these delegates. Not even Ted Cruz in Texas, who, by the way, tonight was supposed to be Ted Cruz’s big night. You never heard my campaign say that we were going clean house on Super Tuesday. … He ended up winning his home state, and sharing delegates. And the neighboring state of Oklahoma, and sharing delegates.”
He continued, “On the other hand, you look at Virginia, a state where we were down 20 points in the polls…we basically fought Donald Trump to a draw, despite having to share the ballot with a number people that probably took votes away, and we’re going to leave there with as many delegates as he has. And we don’t just have a significant number of delegates there, but in multiple states. We’re also looking forward to seeing the results in Minnesota, which we think are going to be very good for us, and now the map starts to get really much better for us and we never said Super Tuesday was our night.” He later added that the primaries in the South that have already been held are Cruz’s best part of the country, which Cruz got “wiped out” in while his campaign isn’t based on Super Tuesday being the firewall. And “Ted Cruz’s campaign was he’s going to win Iowa, South Carolina, and sweep Super Tuesday states, and that would be the end of the campaign.”
Rubio added, “[I]n these races, usually what happens is, you have a frontrunner and some point the — everybody comes around and says we have to rally behind the frontrunner for the good of the party. They’re saying the opposite. They’re saying we have to rally to stop Donald Trump, who’s a world class con artist, and a guy who wouldn’t even criticize the Ku Klux Klan, from being our nominee, because he’ll do tremendous damage to the conservative movement, and to the Republican Party. So, we’re going to be in this race as long as it takes to ensure that he never gets to 1,237 delegates, and we do.”
He later said, “Look at the states that are coming up now. Those are not states where Ted Cruz is going to well, and we are.”
When asked about the polls in Florida, Rubio stated, “I don’t believe he’s [Trump’s] up by 20 points. In fact, I know he’s not. Second, I would say to you, he was up by 25 points in Virginia, and in just 5 days of pointing out to people that he’s a con artist, he went from 20 points up to barely beating me in state where, if I didn’t have share the ballot with two or three other people, I would have won.” He further declared, “[W]e’ll win Florida, and we’ll win other winner take all states. When we get to the winner take all state of this election, those states are good for us, and what we’re fighting for, and really going to take off and get to 1,237. Donald Trump will not be the nominee of the Republican Party. We are not going to turn over the party of Lincoln and Reagan to a man who refuses to condemn David Duke, refuses to condemn the KKK, and agrees with Hillary Clinton on Planned Parenthood, on staying neutral on Israel, on healthcare and on all sorts of other issues.” Later, when the KKK and Duke came up, Rubio said that he would immediately disavow Duke and the Klan, unlike Trump.
Rubio added that Trump “in virtually every state” “underperformed his public polling, after just 5 days of pointing out to people who he is. I can’t wait to see what it looks like in 15 days.
Later, when asked if he would drop out if he didn’t win Florida, Rubio said he would win Florida, but that he’ll “campaign in all 50 states. Even if I have to get in my pickup truck, and drive all over this country. I will do whatever it takes to prevent a con artist like Donald Trump from ever becoming the Republican nominee. He will be the end of the modern conservative movement.”
He also commented on fellow candidate Ohio Governor John Kasich’s call to drop out by stating, “He’s not competitive anywhere but in just a handful of places. … I’m not asking or calling for anyone to drop out. I’m just telling you the facts as they are. You know, if there were less candidates in this race, we would have won in Virginia. … And we’re going to pick up delegates in every state on the map tonight, for the most part. John Kasich can’t say that. And Ted Cruz, a bad night for him, too. I mean, this was supposed to be a southern strategy. Let’s not forget, his campaign said that tonight was the night that it would all come to an end, and he would be the nominee. He didn’t even come close to fulfilling that. And if Ted Cruz, given how he’s running, cannot sweep on Super Tuesday, in the South, where in this country is he going to win? I on the other hand, I can make the case that, given where you see voters are going in different parts of the country, we have many states remaining. The bulk of the delegates outstanding, where we’re going to do very well, and have a real chance stop Donald Trump, and become the nominee.”
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