Rubio downplays concerns that Trump would seek revenge on political rivals

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday insisted that Donald Trump would not seek revenge on his political rivals if he wins the White House in November, playing down the former president’s past suggestions that he would retaliate against his perceived enemies.

“Donald Trump has been the one that’s been very clear: that his vengeance is going to be by winning and making America great again. Not going after his political opponents,” Rubio said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Rubio is a top contender to be Trump’s vice presidential pick. Trump, expected to announce a running mate in the coming days, is headed to Doral on Tuesday for a political rally.

Asked whether he was confident that Trump would not seek retribution against Democrats if elected in November, Rubio said he was, pointing to the fact that Trump already served four years in the White House and didn’t “go after” 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton or former President Barack Obama.

“He was president before and he didn’t do it then,” Rubio said. “He’s already said that he wouldn’t do that. He’ll be too busy undoing all the damage of this disastrous presidency.”

Rubio’s remarks on Sunday cast Trump as the victim of a political revenge campaign perpetrated by Democrats, who the Florida senator said had weaponized the U.S. justice system in an effort to silence Trump.

Since leaving the White House in early 2021, Trump has faced a growing pile of legal woes stemming from his actions both before, during and after his presidency. He was convicted in May of 34 felony counts related to hush money payments made to a porn star who says she and Trump once had an affair.

He has also been charged in federal cases involving his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, as well as his retention and handling of classified documents after he left the White House.

Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of seeking revenge against his political opponents if he wins the presidency, telling Fox News last month that he “would have every right to go after” rivals like President Joe Biden. In another interview with the TV host Dr. Phil that aired in June, Trump insisted that “sometimes revenge can be justified.”

Rubio’s remarks on Sunday came just days after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision holding that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for official actions taken in the White House. That ruling was seen as a major win for Trump, who has argued that he can’t be tried for certain actions he took when he was president.

Rubio says undocumented immigrants are “murdering” Americans

Speaking on CNN, Rubio also echoed the former president’s rhetoric on undocumented immigrants.

“Ten million people are in our country illegally,” Rubio said. “They’re murdering people everyday.”

The remark underscores the extent to which Trump has reshaped Republicans’ rhetoric on immigration and border security since he launched his first presidential campaign nine years ago by assailing immigrants as violent criminals and pledging to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, earned a reputation early on in his Senate career as a staunch advocate for immigration reform, working with a bipartisan group of senators more than a decade ago to write a sweeping immigration bill that would have, among other things, created a legal pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

An adviser to Rubio pointed to recent examples of crimes that were committed by Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang that originated in Venezuela and has spread throughout Latin America and into the U.S.

Vice presidential prospects

Rubio said on Sunday that Trump hasn’t yet tapped him to be his running mate, and declined to discuss “in public” how he would address potential constitutional hurdles should Trump ultimately choose him as his vice presidential nominee.

“Donald Trump has a decision to make,” Rubio said. “He’ll make it when he needs to make it. He’ll make a good decision. I know for certain that I will be out there over the next three or four months working on behalf of his campaign in some capacity. I know that I’ll be in the Senate and I’ll have the opportunity to continue to do that.”

While Rubio is said to be on the shortlist of potential vice presidential contenders along with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, his candidacy would likely be complicated by a provision in the 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that forbids electors from voting for both a president and vice president from their own state. Both Rubio and Trump are Florida residents.

Asked on Sunday whether he would move out of Florida and resign his U.S. Senate seat if Trump chooses him as his running mate, Rubio demurred, saying it was “presumptuous” to talk about such issues publicly.

“I have no idea who he’s going to pick,” Rubio said. “Like I said, we’ll confront those issues when they come.”