Rubio: By Attacking Each Other, We’re Doing Hillary Clinton’s Work

[RUSH TRANSCRIPT]

STEPHANOPOULOS: “Senator Marco Rubio joins us now. We saw that poll. You are rising. Led to a ‘Washington Post’ headline this morning, it shows — it says Rubio rising, also becoming a target. And it quotes a GOP strategist saying that the next 100 days are going to be brutal for you. Are you ready for it?” 
RUBIO: “The last 100 days haven’t been easy. So, I don’t know what he’s comparing it to. I’m running for president, the most important political office on the planet. We knew it would be difficult but we’re going to continue on our message and certainly answer questions and address falsehoods or anything people say. But, I’m going to remain focused on the future of America, which is what this election needs to be about. Because, this nation is a point where it needs to choose what kind of country it’s going to be in the 21st century.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Every candidate was out there hitting you, yesterday, including Donald Trump right here, on your personal finances. Take a look.”
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TRUMP: “I mean, he is a disaster with his credit cards. You know, he certainly lives above his mean, there’s no question about that.”
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RUBIO: “Well, I’m sorry. You know –” 
STEPHANOPOULOS: “You get a kick out of guy. But he was raising an important issue. You know, this came up at the debate last week. You had to draw down on your retirement account to pay living expenses.” 
RUBIO: “That’s not accurate. Bottom line is, I obviously don’t come from a wealthy family. I had student loans. I only have one debt, the mortgage on the home that me and my family live in, in Miami. I wanted to make sure we had cash on hands for all kinds of things that come up.” 
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Living expenses?” 
RUBIO: “Well, obviously it’s not day-to-day living expenses. It’s things like, for example, if your refrigerator break, we live in South Florida, if our air-conditioning unit goes gown, we have a ten-year-old house and I get a phone call, that’s a crisis in South Florida. We wanted to make sure we had access to that. I send my kids to private Christian schools. That’s a significant amount of money. I see it as an investment in their future. So, that’s what that was. But, ultimately I have two debts, of the mortgage on my home and America, I owe so much to this country.” 
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Jeb Bush in his campaign putting out the idea that you’re a risky bet and raising questions that came up in your past campaigns about using the Republican Party credit card for personal use. ‘The Tampa Bay Times’ has a question about it. Two years of those records are still secret. What should voters –” 
RUNIO: “It’s not accurate. Well, first of all, every expend on that card is detailed in the Republican Party accounts that they file every month with — reports they have to file with the state. It doesn’t say who they belong to but every expense is on there and we’ll release those soon.” 
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Those two years?” 
RUBIO: “Yeah, absolutely. But, people need to understand what they’re talking about. It wasn’t a credit card. It was an American Express charge card secured under my personal — bills would be mailed to me at home. If there was a personal expense, I paid it. A party expense, the party paid it. I recognize in hindsight I would do it different to avoid confusion. But the Republican Party never paid a single personal expense of mine. This is unfortunately when this was initially reported in the press it was made into something bigger than it actual is. I wouldn’t do it the same way again to avoid the stories. But, the Republican Party never paid any of my –” 
STEPHANOPOULOS: “When Bush’s team says you’re a risky bet because of this, they’re wrong?” 
RUBIO: “They’re running a campaign that has somehow concluded, someone told them you got to attack Marco in order to win. I don’t agree. It won’t change my complain. I’ll continue to run a positive message. If there are policy differences we should discuss them, not just with Jeb, but anybody on the field. But I’m not going to attack other Republicans. We’re doing Hillary Clinton’s work for her.” 
STEPHANOPOULOS: “She talked you out yesterday as well in regard to immigration reform. You used to be for comprehensive immigration reform and caved.” 
RUBIO: “Yeah, because it can’t pass — we won’t pass it in this country. We’re not going to pass it after a migratory crisis on the southern border where miners were being sent here after two executive orders. I’m being honest. They’re the ones that are not being truthful. The only way forward is through a series of steps that glings with border security. It’s funny, the Democrats attack Republicans for not doing what they didn’t do. When they had a majority in the house, a supermajority in the Senate, Barack Obama in the White House, they did nothing on immigration. And now they attack Republicans for not doing what they themselves didn’t do, when they had the power. Because this issue cannot be tackled in one massive piece of legislation.” 
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Finally to get on the stage with her you might have to get past Senator Ted Cruz rising after the last debate. Both of you young, 44. Both of Cuban descent, both first term senators and both support of the Tea Party. What sets you apart from Ted Cruz?”
RUBIO: “We’ll have a debate and I like him. He is a friend of mine. It’s interesting that the four top candidates in that field, two of them, three of them of the four come from minority backgrounds, which speaks a lot to the diversity –”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Two with no government experience.” 
RUBIO: “Well, again, that speaks to the mood in the country. People are angry and should be at Washington, D.C. You know, I’ve only been there 4 and a half years. But I have shared in that frustration, and that’s one of the reasons why I chose to run for president.”