Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tore into the Clintons Sunday, arguing America doesn’t need a “cloud of constant scandal” in 2016 on “Fox News Sunday.”
Rubio told host Chris Wallace the Clintons shouldn’t “distract” voters “from core issues,” adding that America won’t be “supportive of drama” as 2016 inches closer.
Rubio’s comments come after he told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly earlier in the week that America should not be subjected to the Clintons “soap drama” for the next eight years. (RELATED: Rubio On Hillary: America ‘Cannot Afford Another Eight Years Of A Soap Opera’)
Rubio also pushed back against the notion some have espoused that the GOP needs a governor to be its nominee in 2016. He said that while there are some that could make a good president, there have been bad presidents who came out of the governorship. The Florida senator name-checked Jimmy Carter specifically.
CHRIS WALLACE: Senator, you said recently Hillary Clinton shouldn’t be elected president because “we can’t afford another eight years of soap opera.” What do you mean?
MARCO RUBIO: Again, unfortunately, both under her husband’s presidency, her time in the Department of State, her campaign for president last time and even now, there seems to be this cloud of constant scandal and things that distract us from core issues at the moment. I just think at this hinge moment in history where we’re asked to make a transition from the past into this future, we really — The American people are not at a point now where, I think, they’re going to be more supportive of more drama surrounding the political process.
WALLACE: One of the knocks on you, if she’s the candidate from yesterday, is you’re too young. People still talk about you taking that swig of water during the state of the union response. 43-year-old first-term senators may be not quite as appealing as president as they were before 2008. How do you answer those who say, we need someone with more experience, maybe a governor who’s run things?
RUBIO: Well certainly, being governor is an important job too, and there are quality governors that could serve our country as president and have done so in the past. We’ve had bad governors too, Jimmy Carter was a governor. But let me just say that ultimately — first people have to understand what I’ve done before I even came to the Senate. I was a member of Florida legislature for nine years, speaker of the House, majority leader, majority whip. I’ve been in the Senate for 4 1/2 years and played a pretty vibrant role on both foreign policy and the foreign relations committee and also on the intelligence committee and have a record of making judgments on public policy and, in particular, on foreign policy that people could look at. Ultimately, what’s more important in the presidency is the judgment that you have in terms of the future of our country and on foreign policy in particular. And I would add one more point: this election will be about the future, not about the past, and it is important that we have a president that understands both the challenges and opportunities that our country faces not just today but we’ll face tomorrow as well.