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Donald Trump is supporting a Marco Rubio run — for his current Senate seat.
“Important to keep the MAJORITY,” the expected Republican presidential nominee tweeted late Thursday night. “Run Marco!”
The Florida senator has fended calls from his Republican colleagues in the Senate to run for re-election, despite his insistence that he will likely return to private life once his term expires in January. Trump joined them late Thursday night, tweeting his support for Rubio seeking a second term:
Rubio could still file for re-election if he wanted. The filing deadline is June 24 and Florida’s primary will not be held till August. But Rubio said during his presidential run that he would not run again for his Senate seat, and maintains it is “unlikely” after a crushing loss in his home-state primary in March.
Republicans, hoping to retain their majority in the chamber, have worried that Rubio’s departure will weaken their chances of keeping a Republican in the seat.
Trump’s evening tweet went out hours after CNN released parts of an interview with the senator in which Rubio said he “wants to be helpful” to Trump’s campaign.
The senator told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he planned to release the delegates pledged to him from the presidential race “if we haven’t done so already,” adding that it was likely “irrelevant” since Trump would win the nomination outright anyway. Trump independently reached the threshold of delegates needed to clinch the nomination Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
Rubio also said he planned to attend the convention and would be willing to speak for Trump, though he said he did not know if he would play a role.
Though Rubio had hammered Trump on the trail for his harsh rhetoric and proposals, he waved his campaign trail comments off as “policy differences.”
“I don’t want Hillary Clinton to be president,” he said. “If there’s something I can do to help that from happening and it’s helpful to the cause, I most certainly would be honored to be considered for that.”
But Rubio said there was one thing he wouldn’t do: be Donald Trump’s vice president.
“That wouldn’t be the right choice for him,” Rubio said. “He’s earned the nomination and deserves to have a running mate that more fully embraces the things he stands for.”