Marco Rubio has made his impression upon the conservative media-sphere, and Rush Limbaugh is the latest to praise the Florida senator’s candidacy.
On his Thursday program, the conservative radio host praised Rubio for his performance at the Council on Foreign Relations Wednesday, where Limbaugh said he “ran rings around everybody, including Jeb Bush.” Limbaugh added that Rubio is currently “lighting it up.”
“Have you seen Marco Rubio? Marco Rubio is lighting it up,” Limbaugh said, before listing the reasons for his rise.
“There are two things that have happened here. The first thing that happened is that Larry Ellison of Oracle, worth something like $57 billion, is throwing a huge fundraiser for Rubio out in California where he lives…I came to find out that Ellison was a big donor and supporter for Romney. So it’s not a shock. It is to people that didn’t know. Silicon Valley, the Left Coast, is assumed to be all-in for the Democrats. But Larry Ellison going public. Rather than be a quiet donor and a quiet fundraiser, going public with it, and it shook things up on the Republican side.”
“And then Rubio shows up on the Council on Foreign Relations and literally ran rings around everybody, including Jeb Bush,” Limbaugh continued. “I read that Jeb Bush’s speech and performance, a Q&A at the Council on Foreign Relations, was not inspiring. He appeared unprepared, a little halting and unsure of himself — whereas Rubio was conversant on anything that was brought up. He was able to answer any question that anybody asked him. His speech was all-inclusive.”
The conservative talking head’s Rubio chatter follows up on fellow commentator Charles Krauthammer, who has long put the junior senator from Florida at the top of the GOP field, alongside Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, who Limbaugh has given high marks consistently as well. (RELATED: Krauthammer: Rubio The ‘Perfect Antithesis’ To Hillary, Who Dems ‘Fear The Most’)
“In fact, he even corrected Charlie Rose a couple of times (who had incorrect information in a question that he asked) and did it with style and class and aplomb. But the question that is said to have set Rubio apart is based on a question and answer that Jeb got a day or two earlier,” Limbaugh said pointing to the Iraq War question Bush stumbled over the past week.
“‘No, I wouldn’t go, knowing what we know now.’ Well, that’s what Rubio said. Rubio said, ‘No, I wouldn’t now. Not only would I not invade Iraq, President Bush wouldn’t either if he knew then what he knows now.'” (RELATED: Limbaugh: Scott Walker ‘The Blueprint’ For GOP If They Are ‘Serious About Beating The Left’)
“It was really impressive, is the bottom line. And not just… You know, the Council on Foreign Relations crowd, it’s made up of all kinds of people and opinion,” Limbaugh explained. “It’s made up of little despots that want to take over the world. It’s made up of journalists. It’s made up of scholars, corporate people. I mean, it’s a mix of all kinds of people, and they all think they’re powerful, many of them are wealthy, and they do think that they do have influence over policy matters.”
“Their egos are huge, and Rubio impressed them. Rubio went in there and he did it in a very upbeat way. I’ll tell you, it was a stunning thing for a lot of people who think Rubio is too young, too inexperienced, and it was a massive, massive statement and massive move for Rubio this week, and he’s not alone,” Limbaugh said. “That’s not the only thing that Rubio has done that has begun to put some distance between himself and others in the field.”
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