BEDFORD, N.H. — Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio was promised at least one vote Sunday as long as he makes a promise in return — and it has to do with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
During a town hall question-and-answer session, an attendee who identified himself as a retired Air Force veteran said told Rubio that if elected, he should “let [the military] do their jobs.” He then told the Florida senator that he'll vote for him as long as he promises to "not pardon Hillary.”
“I think that’s actually her plan ... to pardon herself,” Rubio quipped before calling for granting the military the “resources and equipment” that they need “to win.”
Rubio takes the stage in Bedford two days ahead of the primary. (: @FordFischer / N2S) #NHprimary pic.twitter.com/M9Hg4w94ou
— News2Share (@news_2_share) February 7, 2016
After the event, the veteran, Bill Utrera, told TheBlaze he was “absolutely” satisfied by Rubio’s answer: “He’s going to take care of the military,” Utrera said.
Also during the town hall, Rubio alluded to criticism that he repeated talking points during the Republican presidential debate Saturday night.
“Look, I said this last night, I am going to say this every chance that I get: Barack Obama is trying to change America,” Rubio said.
“He wants to make us more like the rest of the world,” he added. “I don’t want to be like the rest of the world; I want to be the United States.”
Rubio characterized the president’s domestic and foreign policy as a deliberate effort to reduce America’s standing in the world — not incompetence.
Rubio then took aim at Clinton.
During Saturday's debate, Rubio called Clinton an “extremist” on abortion. When Clinton was asked about Rubio’s remarks during an interview Sunday on "Face the Nation," she said, “Well, I think it's pretty pathetic.”
“This is something that illustrates how Senator Rubio has been just going as far as he can to try to, I guess, buttress his credentials with certain parts of the Republican constituency,” Clinton added. “I have been on record for years about where I stand on making abortion safe and legal, the exceptions that are appropriate, that should be looked into, and the very difficult choices that very few women have to confront that lead to excruciating kinds of decisions.”
Rubio cited Clinton’s remarks as proof that she's scared to run against him.
“You know how I know that I will win?” Rubio said. “Because Hillary Clinton is scared of us. You know how I know that? This morning, she went on 'Face the Nation' and she attacked me again. They attack me more than any other Republican ... because they know that if I’m our nominee, we win.”
Rubio told the audience he hopes he can “represent the conservative movement and the Republican party” in the upcoming primary.
“These are all good people,” Rubio said of the Republican field. “Any one of them would be better than Barack Obama — well, low bar ...” He added that he knows he can win because he'll “unify” the conservative movement.
“We can’t win if we’re divided,” Rubio said. “They want to make us divided, they want us fighting against each other for months at a time … we will not allow that to happen.”
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