Rubio says Clinton ‘disqualified,’ says he will unify

Fresh off his second place finish in the South Carolina primary, Sen. Marco Rubio told an enthusiastic crowd at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock Sunday that the 2016 election is a referendum on the country’s future, declaring, “We will lose the American dream if Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders is elected.”

Rubio said in his 40-minute speech that, if Democrats win the election, Obamacare would be permanent, President Obama’s executive orders would stand, and the next president would appoint a Supreme Court justice to replace Antonin Scalia who “thinks the Constitution means whatever you want it to mean.”

When he mentioned Clinton, the crowd booed. He said she is disqualified to be president because she is under FBI investigation after storing classified information on her personal server as secretary of state “because she thinks she’s above the law.” He said she is disqualified from being commander-in-chief because she had lied to the families of the four Americans who were killed in the attack in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 by saying it had been inspired by a YouTube video.

On his way to Nevada to compete in the Nevada caucus Tuesday, Rubio said he could unify Republicans behind him. He spoke on the heels of his South Carolina finish that solidified his status as the favored candidate of the “establishment.” The Huffington Post was reporting that 2012 nominee Mitt Romney was set to endorse him. Prior to the speech, Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, his campaign’s state chairman, announced that 30 elected officials had endorsed Rubio’s campaign – two more than had been previously stated. House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, and Auditor of State Andrea Lea (R) endorsed Rubio on Sunday.

Rubio said he had “been turning conservative ideas into conservative action for 15 years. I am as conservative as anyone in this race. But I’m a conservative that can win, and we have to win. We cannot lose and we cannot take a chance. This cannot be an election about making a point. This has to be an election about making a difference because the stakes are too high.”

Rubio also promised to be a unifying figure, saying, “If you elect me president of the United States, I will be president for all Americans. I will never ask you to be angry at one group of Americans so that I can win an election.”

Rubio said Obama had tried to make America more like other countries. He criticized he support of Common Core, Obamacare, and the nuclear deal with Iran. He said on his first day in office, he would “repeal every single one of Barack Obama’s unconstitutional executive orders.” He said he would support free enterprise principles and criticized cuts that have been made to the military.

“When I am president of the United States, we are going to have a Reagan-style rebuild of the United States military,” he said.

Near the end of his speech, Rubio offered a personal account of his family’s American experience. His parents had left Cuba and come to America in 1956 speaking little English. His father worked as a bartender in Miami Beach until he was in his 70s. His mother was a maid. At times, he said, they wondered if they had made a mistake leaving Cuba and considered going back. But, although they never became rich, 10 years after coming to America, they owned a home in a safe neighborhood. He called the United States “the single greatest nation in the history of all mankind.”

“My parents loved America because they understood what life was like outside of America,” he said.

Apparently referring to his current rival for the GOP nomination, Donald Trump, and former rival, Jeb Bush, he said, “This is the only place on earth where the son of a bartender and a maid can have the same dreams and the same future as the son of a president and the son of a millionaire.”

EXCLUSIVE ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW
Talk Business & Politics’ Roby Brock caught up with Sen. Rubio in an exclusive one-on-one interview just before he stepped on stage at the Little Rock event.

The two discussed the senator’s campaign strategy going forward including how crucial expectations are for Nevada, Arkansas and the upcoming SEC primary on March 1. Rubio also answered some pop culture, personal and political questions in a rapid fire segment in the latter half of the interview.

Watch the full interview below.