CNN Host Repeatedly Asks Rubio if He Plans to Vote for Trump in November — See How Rubio Answers

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) refused to commit Tuesday afternoon to voting for Donald Trump, only saying that he will honor his pledge to support the Republican nominee.

Rubio, who exited the 2016 race for the White House earlier this year after losing his home state of Florida, repeatedly dodged a question from CNN host Jake Tapper over whether he planned to pull the lever for Trump in November.

"Are you going to vote for him?" Tapper asked.

"Well, as I said, I'm going to support the Republican nominee," Rubio replied.

"You're going to abide by your pledge, but when you go into the privacy of the voting booth, are you going to pull the lever?" Tapper pressed.

"I intend to support the Republican nominee," Rubio said.

When asked if he was taking a position similar to the one staked out by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) — Ryan has, thus far, refused to endorse Trump — Rubio pointed to a pledge he signed to support the eventual nominee.

"The difference between Speaker Ryan is that I ran for president, signed a pledge, put my name on it and said that I would support the nominee," Rubio said. "And that's what I intend to do."

Rubio said the "best thing" he could do in 2016 would be to support conservatives running for other local, state and federal offices.

In the interview, Rubio said he stood by the criticism of Trump he leveled during his campaign, but refused now to "sit here" and be the real estate mogul's "chief critic." He also said that he had "absolutely" ruled out serving as Trump's running-mate and was not sure if he would attend the convention.

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