WATCH: Marco Rubio On Trump: ‘I Give Him Credit’ For Calling Mexicans Rapists To Dominate Headlines



Former GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has come under fire recently for endorsing Donald Trump for president. It seems the junior Senator from Florida is all aboard the “Trump Train” and is asking for the businessman’s forgiveness.

The more moderate of this year’s GOP hopefuls, Rubio sat down for an interview on CNN’s State of the Union to defend his new opinion of The Donald.

CNN’s Jake Tapper pointed out that Trump has “gotten some support from some pretty scary dudes,” alluding to groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and other such hate groups that have publicly stated their support for the business mogul.

Tapper questioned Rubio:

“Some of these hate groups did robo calls on his behalf, ‘Make sure to elect Donald Trump and not the Cubans,’ did you ever hear about that stuff?[sic]”

Rubio expressed how offensive Trump’s comments were, saying:

‘I did. You know it’s offensive, and not just against me, but the fact that elements like that are still involved in American politics. And traditionally a candidate would disavow that and say, ‘I want nothing to do with it, I don’t want them as part of my campaign.'”

Tapper cut in, saying that Trump didn’t do that.

Rubio continued:

“I didn’t like that. And I said that at the time. And you know, it is what it is. You know obviously, I don’t believe Donald Trump’s a white nationalist. And I don’t think that those are his views. But I do think that it’s unfortunate that people like that have found the ability to express themselves in this way in a campaign.”

When Tapper pointed out Trump’s suggestion that Mexicans were “rapists,” Rubio responded by saying he found the comment “offensive” and “highly inaccurate.”

“But here’s the trap you’re in. If you respond to it, [Trump] is getting what he wants. That’s why he’s sometime saying this, to dominate the [news] cycle. I don’t give him credit for what he said, but I give him credit for the way that he understands this stuff.”

He went on to further justify Trump’s comments by essentially saying it was a media ploy, and that Trump is well aware of how to manipulate the media to secure airtime.

“Media is a business and it’s driven by ratings, and based on your ratings is what you can charge your advertisers. And so, this content is interesting content. It’s different. And it’s over the top. And it draws eyeballs and ears to hear what people are saying and see it. Donald understood that.”

Watch the clip of Rubio’s interview with Jake Tapper below, via YouTube:

Feature Image is a screengrab from RawStory via YouTube.