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.”
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