Florida Sen. Marco Rubiocan be the vice president for the former President Donald Trumpdefends Trump’s previous comments about immigrants”poison the blood of our country” in a Spanish-language interview Wednesday with Telemundo.
“I think he said that and that way,” Rubio said in Spanish, with an English translation provided by the network, when asked if Trump could win the Latino vote, despite the comments.
“There are Hispanics in the Cabinet, or rather, in the staff. As the press mentions, he is considering one as the vice president’s walking mate,” added Rubio, in what seemed to be a reference to himself. “They have strong ties to the community.”
Under further questioning, Rubio claimed Trump’s comments were not about race.
“That’s the word he used, but it has nothing to do with race, because at the end of the day he’s talking about the state, not the population,” Rubio said. “This country is threatened by the proliferation of these people, who we now know include criminals and terrorists.”
During the interview, Rubio also expressed support for Trump’s plan for mass deportations across the country, telling Telemundo “it’s US law.”
“I’m going to do massive deportations, the biggest,” Trump said in a recent interview with Fox News. “Eisenhower did the greatest, this will be greater. But this is very difficult. What he did to our country is unimaginable.”
In 2016, Rubio said mass deportations of the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. were not a “realistic policy,” but now he says that has changed.
“My idea at that time was to find a process for those who are not criminals while at the same time doing it, so that it does not happen again. Now, on top of those 11 million, in the past few years, we have taken in another 9 or 10 million people.
Rubio’s views on mass deportation echo sentiments expressed by voters across the country.
According to new CBS News poll62% of voters said they favor, in principle, the new government program to deport all undocumented immigrants living in the US illegally.
Democrats criticized Rubio for defending Trump’s immigrant character.
“Donald Trump’s statement that immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country’ is the kind of dangerous language used by the likes of Hitler and Mussolini — and Marco Rubio is willing to defend him just for the chance to be Trump’s running mate,” DNC spokeswoman Kenia Guerrero said. after Rubio’s interview. “Rubio has lost the last glory just to compete in the race to the bottom to be on the extreme MAGA ticket this November who is wildly out-of-touch with the voters who will decide this election.”
While Democrats condemned Rubio’s interview comments as anti-immigrant, Latino political analysts said the Florida senator was an effective messenger for the Trump campaign by delivering Trump’s rhetoric in Spanish to millions of Latinos in the US.
“Here you have a potential national vice presidential candidate for the Republican Party, literally doing what no other candidate on this stage has done,” said Julio Ricardo Varela, founder of the Latino newsletter.
“He only gave interviews in Spanish. He could be a Latino vice presidential candidate. He checked a lot of boxes for the Trump campaign and could be a supporter of Trump’s extremism.”
Asked about the possibility of being Trump’s vice presidential running mate during the interview, Rubio said he had not had a conversation with the Trump campaign about the matter, but said that “it’s an honor to be considered” and “a great opportunity to continue to serve.”
Their relationship was not always heated. In 2016, when Trump and Rubio were both running for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump referred to Rubio as “Little Marco,” while Rubio mocked Trump over the size of his hands: “You know what they say about people with small hands? You can’t believe it,” Trump said. Both of them have exchange of contention on the debate stage, too.
Asked about their relationship, Rubio replied, “It’s like asking a boxer why he punches his opponent. We’re competing.” He added that he has worked closely with Trump throughout his administration.
