Elections

Rubio To Skip GOP Convention, Needs To Focus On Re-Election

REUTERS/Eric Miller

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Phillip Stucky Political Reporter
Font Size:

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida announced late Wednesday he plans to skip the Republican National Convention in Cleveland at the end of July.

“Florida has always been a competitive state and it will be this fall. Marco had planned to go to the convention before he decided to seek re-election. Since Marco got into the race late, he will be in Florida campaigning and meeting with voters instead of going to Ohio,” campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas told the Tampa Bay Times.

Rubio announced in early May he planned to attend the convention, and even planned to address the crowds.

“I want to be helpful. I don’t want to be harmful, because I don’t want Hillary Clinton to be president,” Rubio told CNN back in May.

Rubio joined the long list of Republicans skipping the event. The entire Bush family announced they will not attend, nor will they support Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Sens. Kelly Ayotte and John McCain also announced they will not attend the convention, along with former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

“When I hear that they are going to sit it out, I think that’s fine I don’t care if they sit it out,” Trump told CNN in May when major Republicans began announcing they would skip the convention. “But I have tremendous support, in fact even politically you see that so many people are now coming out in support and we are going to have some people that aren’t going to want to play the game and that’s okay. I mean if they don’t want to, I don’t think it matters.”

Follow Phillip On Twitter

Have a Tip? Let us Know

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.