Jeb: Rubio ‘Would Have Earned It’ As Mitt’s VP, Now He’s Running for POTUS, His Claims On Hezbollah, Obamacare Aren’t True

Republican presidential candidate former Florida Governor Jeb Bush argued that fellow candidate Florida Senator Marco Rubio doesn’t have a “proven record,” cast doubt on Rubio’s claimed accomplishments on Hezbollah and Obamacare, and said that he recommended Rubio to be vice president for Mitt Romney “”Because he would have earned it. Now he’s running for the presidency” in an interview broadcast on Friday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel.

Jeb said, [relevant remarks begin around 2:00] “I’m not all in to this coronation stuff for a guy who came in third in Iowa, who has no proven record, who’s a charismatic guy, but we’re going to elect a nominee that’s going to get the bark scraped off of him by the Hillary Clinton hit machine. I think there ought to be a little time to test all this out.”

The discussion then turned to the fact that he thought Rubio was experienced enough to recommend him to be Mitt Romney’s vice president. Jeb said, “Yeah, except he doesn’t have the experience to make a tough decision.”

Anchor Bret Baier followed up, “But why recommend him for vice president then, if he didn’t have the experience back then?” Jeb answered, “Because he would have earned it. Now he’s running for the presidency. Does he have the experience? Name one thing that he’s done. Rick Santorum had a tough time. He ended up coming back with doubling the sanctions against Hezbollah. That’s great. Except he didn’t even show up for the vote. That was it. Or the the risk corridor vote to amend Obamacare. great idea. I’m totally supportive of it. Except he took credit for something he didn’t do.”

Jeb added, after Baier pressed why he would recommend someone who’s inexperienced to be next in line to be president, Jeb stated, “I’m running for president of the United States right now. I’m comparing myself to Marco Rubio. I’m not comparing Marco Rubio to other candidates, who are perhaps going to be vice presidential candidates. And that’s the point I’m making. I have a proven record. You can look at what did, and get some insurance that I have the ability to make a tough decision, that I won’t cut and run, that I can forge consensus. I have the toughness necessary to be president of the United States.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett