Bob Dole Endorses Rubio: ‘He Wants to Grow the Party,’ Unlike Cruz

dole

Monday in an interview for ABC News’ podcast “Powerhouse Politics” with Jonathan Karl and Rick Klein, 1996 Republican presidential nominee former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS) said he was supporting Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in the 2016 presidential race now that former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) dropped out.

Partial transcript as follows:

DOLE: “Now that my good friend Jeb Bush is no longer running, I’m supporting Rubio.”

KARL: “Wait, did we just make some news here. So you are endorsing Marco Rubio?”

DOLE: “Right. He worked for me in y ’96 campaign in Dade County, Florida, so I’ve had acquaintance with him way back in ’96. He was the hard worker. And as much as I love John Kasich, you know, Rubio I think is probably a better candidate. And he is young, he’s 44, he’s two years older than Kennedy was when he was elected; three years younger than Obama when Obama was elected. I think he would bring — and he wants to grow the party as opposed to Cruz who — I don’t know what he wants to grow.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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