Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Sunday that he thinks he is ready to be the leader of the free world — then issued a scathing criticism of Hillary Clinton, seen as the Democratic frontrunner for 2016.
“I do,” the 42-year-old freshman senator responded, when asked by ABC’s Jonathan Karl if he’s ready to be president. “But I think that’s true for multiple other people that would want to run … I mean, I’ll be 43 this month, but the other thing that perhaps people don’t realize, I’ve served now in public office for the better part of 14 years.”
“Most importantly, I think a president has to have a clear vision of where the country needs to go and clear ideas about how to get it there and I think we’re very blessed in our party to have a number of people that fit that criteria,” he added.
Rubio, who is widely expected to launch a 2016 run for the White House, said if he does decide to seek the nation’s highest office, he would not simultaneously seek reelection as a senator in Florida.
“I believe that if you want to be president of the United States, you run for president,” he said. “You don’t run for president with some eject button in the cockpit that allows you to go on an exit ramp if it doesn’t work out.”
“I believe that if you want to be president of the United States, you run for president.”
During his interview with Karl, Rubio also hammered Clinton.
The conservative firebrand gave her an”F” as secretary of state, saying the “diplomacy that was pursued in her time in the State Department” has ” failed everywhere in the world.”
“I’m sure she’s going to go out bragging about her time in the State Department. She’s also going to have to be held accountable for its failures, whether it’s the failed reset with Russia or the failure in Benghazi that actually cost lives,”
