News

Marco Rubio Says The Election Isn't Rigged

by Bronwyn Isaac

As the last few weeks of the presidential race build to a climax and the conversation surrounding the election bears even more weight on potential voters, Donald Trump's rumors of a "rigged election" have only increased. However, on Monday night, Trump's former Republican rival, Marco Rubio, said the election is not rigged during a debate with his Democratic senatorial challenger, Rep. Patrick Murphy. This makes him just another addition to the growing list of Republicans who condemn the rumors of a rigged election spread by Trump's campaign.

While Rubio still supports Trump as a candidate, and has explicitly said he'll vote for Trump this election due to his political aversion to Clinton, he clearly disagrees with Trump's notions of voter fraud. This speaks volumes both about Rubio's faith in the political system and his ability to respect the preference of voters even after losing to Trump in the primaries in his home state of Florida. Earlier this month, he released a statement to The Miami Herald in which he said that although he lost to Trump, Rubio respects the preference of voters:

I ran against Donald Trump. And while I respect that voters chose him as the GOP nominee, I have never hesitated to oppose his policies I disagree with. And I have consistently rejected his offensive rhetoric and behavior. I disagree with him on many things, but I disagree with his opponent on virtually everything. I wish we had better choices for president.

Despite Rubio's ongoing support of the Republican presidential candidate even after Trump's 2005 Access Hollywood hot mic tape, in which he bragged about grabbing women "by the pussy," on Monday, he made it clear that there is no evidence to back theories of a rigged election:

This election is not being rigged. There is no evidence behind any of this, so this should not continue to be said. We have 67 counties in this state [Florida], each of which conduct their own elections. I promise you there is not a 67-county conspiracy to rig this election,

Perhaps if Rubio can swallow the pill of primary loss in Florida despite having grown up there, Trump could do the same. He went on not only to say that the notion of a Florida election conspiracy not backed by evidence, but to also bring up how offensive it was to deny the voting validity of the large Cuban population in Florida.

As reported by NBC news, Rubio emphasized the importance of Cuban voters in Florida, and cited the "millions of people who came [to Florida] because they couldn't vote in the nation of their birth," and going on to say, "It would be a tragedy if they gave up their vote here as well." Perhaps Trump should take a page from Rubio's book and trust the voters themselves.