Sen. Marco Rubio is traveling with President Barack Obama aboard Air Force One as he visits Orlando.
The news was confirmed by Deputy White House press secretary Eric Schultz speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One.
Schultz told reporters that Obama and Rubio would likely have a conversation on the flight, but that the conversation would primarily focus on the Orlando tragedy.
The Florida senator has indicated that he is reconsidering his decision not to run for re-election to the Florida U.S. Senate seat.
“I’ll go home later this week, and I’ll have some time with my family, and then if there’s been a change in our status I’ll be sure to let everyone know,” Rubio told reporters.
After deciding to run for president in 2015, Rubio said he would not run for re-election, leaving his friend Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera to run for the seat.
But Lopez-Cantera urged Rubio to reconsider, vowing to step aside if he changed his mind, according to a conversation reported by Politico’s Marc Caputo.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, anxious to keep his Senate majority, has pressured Rubio to remain in the Senate.
“I and my colleagues have been trying to convince Sen. Marco Rubio to run again in Florida,” McConnell told radio host Hugh Hewitt in May. “He had indicated he was not going to, but we’re all hoping that he’ll reconsider, because poll data indicates that he is the one who can win for us.”
The filing deadline for the Florida Senate race is June 24.
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