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Rubio Fires Back at Bush's Criticism of Missed Senate Votes: 'Someone Has Convinced You That Attacking Me Is Going to Help You'

October 28, 2015

Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush had a testy exchange during Wednesday's GOP debate over Rubio's missed Senate votes, with Rubio firing back that the only reason Bush cared was because they were both running for president.

The exchange was notable given the close relationship between the two dating back more than a decade.

CNBC moderator Carl Quintanilla brought up Rubio being a "young man in a hurry" in his first question to Rubio, and Rubio hit back, saying that was what the GOP establishment had said as well.

"Wait for what? This country is running out of time," Rubio said. "We can't afford to have another four years like the last eight years. Watching this broadcast tonight are millions of people that are living paycheck to paycheck. They're working as hard as they ever have, everything costs more and they haven't had a raise in decades ... The time to act is now. The time to turn the page is now."

Quintanilla was quick to respond by quoting the editorial put out by the Sun Sentinel this week calling for Rubio to resign from office. Rubio said the editorial was indicative of bias in the mainstream media, pointing to then-Sen. Barack Obama's many missed votes while he was running for president and the Sun Sentinel's decision to endorse him.

"This is another example of the double standard that exists in this country between the mainstream media and the conservative movement," Rubio said to loud cheers.

Bush then interjected, calling himself a constituent of Rubio's and saying that his missed votes did matter.

"Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term, and you should be showing up to work," Bush said. "Literally, the Senate, what is it, like a French work week? You get like three days where you have to show up? You can campaign, or just resign and let someone else take the job. There are a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck in Florida as well. They're looking for a senator  that will fight for them each and every day."

Rubio responded that he had listened to Bush as he "walked around the country" and that he heard he would model his campaign after Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) and his comeback bid for the 2008 nomination. Rubio said he didn't remember Bush attacking McCain's Senate voting record and suggested Bush's criticism was solely political in nature.

"The only reason why you're doing it now is because we're running for the same position and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you," Rubio said. "Here's the bottom line. My campaign is going to be about the future of America. It's not going to be about attacking anyone else on this stage. I will continue to have tremendous admiration and respect for Governor Bush. I'm not running against Governor Bush. I'm not running against anyone on this stage. I'm running for president because there is no way we can elect Hillary Clinton to continue the policies of Barack Obama."