The terrorist attack in Orlando, Fla., over the weekend has pushed Sen. Marco Rubio to rethink “where you can be most useful to your country” as radio host Hugh Hewitt urged Rubio to reconsider his decision not to run for re-election.
Hewitt asked Rubio Monday, “Does this horror change any way your resolve not to seek re-election, senator?
Rubio, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, replied, “You know, I haven’t even given it thought in that perspective other than to say that I’ve been deeply impacted by it and I think when this is your home state, when it impacts the community you know well, it really gives you pause to think a little bit about, you know, your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country.”
“We live at a very dramatic moment in our history,” he continued. “I think we are at a tipping point here moving into the next election. Irrespective of who the next president is, I think we’re going to face some real foreign policy challenges given some of the things both of the candidates have outlined. So you know, obviously, I haven’t thought about it from a political perspective, but it most certainly has impacted my thinking in general about a lot of things.”
Hewitt followed up, “Now that I ask, will you at least consider it again?”
“Well, obviously, I have a couple things in play,” Rubio said. “It’s not part of our plan as a family and certainly wasn’t part of — you know, I have a friend of mine who is running for the U.S. Senate, so I want to be fair, Hugh. I haven’t thought about it in that context. I really don’t want to link the two things right now because don’t want politics to intrude in all of this.”
“I understand, but there are people who know this issue. You are one of them,” Hewitt said.
“Yeah,” Rubio replied. “Well, as I said, my family and I will be praying about all of this, and we’ll see what I need to do next in my life in regards to how I can best serve.”
In an interview on June 3, Rep. David Jolly, who is running to replace Rubio in the Senate, told the Tampa Bay Times, “I think all signs are pointing to him [Rubio] running.”