"In November of next year, I will either be the president of the United States or a private citizen again, because I have a sense of urgency."
-- March Rubio, Oct. 20, 2015
"I think that the point that really drove me to change my mind is that as we enter this kind of new chapter in our history here is, there’s another role the Senate plays that I think can be really important in the years to come."
-- Marco Rubio, June 22, 2016
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio announced that he will seek re-election in Florida, ending weeks of speculation about his political future.
Rubio told reporters that he faced a sense of duty to remain in office whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton is elected president.
Rubio’s decision is a complete reversal of what he said as he ran for president, which likely opens him up for criticism as he begins his late campaign.
We traced Rubio’s statements about running for re-election, with a focus on statements since he announced for president in April 2015. We are putting his statements on PolitiFact’s Flip-O-Meter which measures the extent to which a politician flips without making a judgment call about those changes. (You can read all of our fact-checks of Rubio on our Truth-O-Meter.)
While campaigning, Rubio repeatedly said he was running for president and not for re-election. After he dropped out in March, he said he would not seek re-election. But in recent weeks some of his comments left wiggle room.
Keep reading from PolitiFact Florida.
Comments