Marco Rubio: I Have No Interest In Serving As Vice President

UPDATE: Donald Trump Responds To Rubio

CNN -- Marco Rubio said Monday he has no interest in serving as Donald Trump's running mate, adding he still isn't sold on the reality star-turned -presumptive Republican nominee.

"While Republican voters have chosen Donald Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee, my previously stated reservations about his campaign and concerns with many of his policies remain unchanged," Rubio, who will appear Tuesday on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper," said in a statement. "He will be best served by a running mate and by surrogates who fully embrace his campaign. As such, I have never sought, will not seek and do not want to be considered for Vice President."

"Instead," he said. "I will focus my attention on representing the people of Florida, retaining a conservative majority in the Senate and electing principled conservatives across the country."

That Rubio would rule himself out as a potential veep pick perhaps isn't much of a surprise, given how acrimonious things got between Trump and the Florida senator earlier this year.

Rubio ratcheted up his attacks in February, calling Trump a "con artist." The line didn't resonate, with Trump ultimately winning in Rubio's home state of Florida.

After bowing out the presidential race in March, Rubio returned to the Senate and said he didn't want to be on any candidate's ticket.

"I'm not going to be anybody's vice president," he said at the time.

---

Blog Author's Comments -- Donald Trump does not have any interest in having Rubio on the ticket, nor do the voters who remember that he was a member of the 'Gang Of Eight' who wanted to allow illegals into our country and eventually give them citizenship. After he did that I want nothing to do with him.

...“Instead,” he said. “I will focus my attention on representing the people of Florida, retaining a conservative majority in the Senate and electing principled conservatives across the country.” But, Rubio said he was bored with the Senate and would not seek reelection. Now which is it, does he want to be a member of the Senate or do something else?

First, Trump has to come up with 1,237 delegates prior to the convention to avoid any game playing by the RNC. And, assuming Donald Trump is the nominee, I would have been disappointed if he had chosen Rubio as his running mate. As I have said before, I would not be against Trump picking Ted Cruz as his VP, I think they would make a formidable team in the general election because Hillary Clinton has got to be defeated.

---

~ More News ~
Senate Launches Inquiry Into Facebook News Curation
Paul Ryan To Trump: I'll Do Whatever You Want Me To Do
Romney Defends Immigrants, Muslims From Trump

Rubio: Non-Felon Illegal Aliens Could Stay

Politico -- Sen. Marco Rubio says people who immigrated to the U.S. illegally but haven’t committed any major crimes could be allowed to stay.

In an interview airing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Florida contender for the Republican presidential nomination said felons shouldn’t be allowed to stay, but those who commit lesser crimes could still qualify. In this interview, he didn’t specify whether those allowed to stay would ever be able to become citizens.

“If you’re a criminal alien, no, you can’t stay. If you’re someone that hasn’t been here for a very long time, you can’t stay,” he said. “I don’t think you’re gonna round up and deport 12 million people.”

Rubio’s somewhat fluid position on immigration has been a target for his opponents because he was part of the Gang of Eight lawmakers who worked on the 2013 immigration reform bill, which included a path to citizenship.

“If circumstances change or you learn something along the way, it’s reasonable to say, ‘Maybe a different approach will work better,’” Rubio said. “So, for example, on immigration it is clear no comprehensive solution to immigration is going to pass.”

---

Blog Author's Comments -- There you have it, Marco Rubio has washed himself out of the race for the Republican nomination and I am not one who is concerned about it. Ever since he was a member of the 'Gang of Eight' I have not considered him a serious contender for the nomination for a presidency.

A few things have to happen to stop all illegals from entering the U.S. and this can be done. Seal the borders, deny all public programs to illegals, fines and than jail time for employers of illegals. Hopefully once all of this is accomplished many of the illegals will have self-deported.

The most important item which has to happen to save the country and the GOP is for the right person to win the nomination and defeat Hillary Clinton for the office of president. Once this is accomplished the president can begin to remove the illegals and the laws put in place via executive action by Barack Obama. But none of this is going to happen until the so-called leaders of the GOP can back the person for the nomination that the voters want.

---

Obama Still Polarizing After All These Years
Obama Halts New Coal Production - Thousands Of Job Losses
Community College To Devote An Entire Month To 'Whiteness'-Shaming

Trey Gowdy Endorses Marco Rubio...

Truth Revolt -- House Republican Trey Gowdy, a conservative all-star, officially endorsed Florida Senator Marco Rubio for President Tuesday.

Joining Rubio on a two-day road trip through Iowa before the New Year, Gowdy enthusiastically supported the young Senator, exclaiming before a crowd of people that he has his vote:

"I'm in Iowa to give you a word of encouragement. It is not my job to tell you who to vote for. But I am going to tell you who I'm going to vote for ... I'm going to vote for Marco Rubio."

The deciding factor for Gowdy was Rubio's stance on two particular issues:

"National security and public safety are the most important issues to me. And there is nobody better on those two issues than Marco Rubio,"

Gowdy also touted Rubio's efforts to undermine Obamacare, calling him "the person who's doing the most" to combat the law:

"He's not going to brag about it, he's not flashy which is unusual for politics in this day and age, but Marco Rubio and his focus on risk corridors may wind up being the undoing of the so-called Affordable Care Act."

And he said that Rubio has the "ability to communicate our message of principled conservatism in a hopeful, aspirational, persuasive way."

"It's ok to be hopeful that the message of principled conservatism can win again," Gowdy continued. "I found that hope in a place that — if you'd told me 10 years ago I would find it, I wouldn't have believed you — in the son of a bartender, in the son of a housekeeper who know what it means to live the American dream."

"I trust Marco Rubio to lead a country safely that has the three most precious things in my life in it," said Gowdy, referring to his family.

---

Blog Author's Comments -- So Trey Gowdy campaigned for two days with Marco Rubio and has endorsed him for the Republican nominee for president. This tells me a lot about Gowdy, one of the few politicians I respected. Instead of elevating Rubio this tarnishes Gowdy.

Marco Rubio is a U.S. senator. And he just can’t stand it anymore. "I don’t know that 'hate' is the right word," Rubio said in an interview. "I’m frustrated." If he would be elected President would he get tired of that job too? So Rubio has decided not to run for reelection as a Senator, it’s the White House or bust.

"That’s why I’m missing votes. Because I am leaving the Senate," Rubio said in the last Republican debate, after Donald Trump had mocked him for his unusual number of absences during Senate votes.

In his third year as a Senator he joined a bipartisan "Gang of Eight" that negotiated a massive immigration-reform effort. He argued with talk-radio hosts, trying to sell conservatives on a plan that would give illegal immigrants a path toward citizenship.

That is the last thing the United States needs but apparently Rubio agrees with what Obama is doing - illegally. The open borders to illegals which Donald Trump is totally against, as is a majority of voters, is one of the main points which has catapulted him to the top as the favorite of all the Republicans vying for the nominee for the 2016 presidential election. I for one do not want Marco Rubio as the GOP nominee.

---

Report: U.S. Spying On Israel Swept Up Members Of Congress
Reuters Rolling Poll For GOP Presidential Candidates In 2016
Obama's Travel Expenses Exceed $70 Million

Ben Carson Backs Puerto Rican Statehood

The Hill -- Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson officially backed Puerto Rican statehood in a speech on the island on Sunday.

“In a Carson administration, I will leave no stone unturned in my efforts to secure this important step in Puerto Rico’s history — establishing Estado 51,” Carson said, according to CNN.

Carson said he viewed the issue of statehood as “settled,” the news network added, referring to a referendum to join the union backed by a majority of Puerto Rican citizens in 2012. “Mis hermanos Americanos,” Carson reportedly said, “my campaign is built around the premise of ‘We the people,’ and through such lens, I view the statehood question in Puerto Rico as settled.”

The Carson campaign estimated that 3,500 people attended the rally for the pro-statehood New Progressive Party.

Other Republican candidates for president, such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), support Puerto Rican statehood, provided the island's residents vote to approve it.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has not endorsed statehood for the U.S. commonwealth but has supported economic relief measures for the island in the past.

---

Blog Author's Comments -- Dr. Ben Carson is slowly burying his campaign for the GOP nominee. Puerto Rico has 65% unemployment, a mountain of entitlement debt they cannot afford to pay back; 50% or more of Puerto Ricans are on some form of government financial welfare; teetering on the verge of financial collapse; desperate for a bailout – and candidate Ben Carson wants to absorb Puerto Rico into the U.S.A as a state. He certainly appears to be a progressive.

This follows candidate Ben Carson saying only two days earlier that he supports the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership and further globalization.

We already have our own mountain of debt with what Barack Obama has done the past seven years and will continue to do until he leaves the White House. I never did support Ben Carson or Marco Rubio as serious presidential candidates. The country needs a leader who can begin to turn around what Obama has done. I believe we have two candidates that the Republican Party should support that could defeat Hillary Clinton and provide the country with a very good president.