GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio said Friday he hasn't yet read the essays from 22 conservative writers who
wrote against Donald Trump for the next edition of The National Review, but said he does not think the New York billionaire is running as a conservative, anyway.
"He's running as a populist, someone who is upset about the direction of this country," the Florida senator told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program. "This is one of the reasons I feel so strongly about my candidacy. I think we are someone who offers consistent conservatism and the ability to beat Hillary Clinton."
Show host Martha MacCallum commented that rival candidate Ted Cruz is now calling Trump an "establishment guy" because "Bob Dole and Trent Lott are lining up behind Donald Trump," but Rubio denied that is happening.
"They are not lining up behind Donald Trump, they are telling their opinion about Ted Cruz," said Rubio. "Ted Cruz is a very calculated person. He said he's against ethanol in New Hampshire and for it in Iowa. He was for the trade deal."
"He's incredibly calculated," Rubio continued. "This thing he's saying about Trump is part of that calculation...in the end it sounds like for Ted Cruz anyone who is not for him is part of the so-called establishment. Meanwhile, the establishment spent $20 million attacking me. I feel great about our chances. We are going to win the nomination. If I'm our nominee we'll beat Hillary Clinton."
Rubio also responded to the news that North Korea has taken a student from the University of Virginia hostage, complaining that he's not surprised that it happened, as "if you take an American, [President] Barack Obama will cut a deal with you."
He promised that if elected, "we are not going to continue trades that actually allow for this sort of thing...it's an incentive for foreign governments and enemies of the United States to take Americans hostage."