Donald Trump's resounding win in Florida on Tuesday night helped force Sen. Marco Rubio out of the presidential race, but
Politico notes the Florida senator is still making headlines as he is now close to endorsing his recent fierce rival Sen. Ted Cruz for the GOP nomination.
Although the two senators have some details to work out — Cruz has to ask for the endorsement and both need to decide if it will make a difference — Rubio was quoted as calling his Texas colleague "the only conservative left in the race," St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on Thursday.
However, when asked about a Cruz endorsement, Rubio told reporters, "I don't have any announcement on that today."
He added, "There's time to prevent a Trump nomination, which I think would fracture the party and be damaging to the conservative movement."
According to Politico, the two senators have similar conservative voting records in the Senate and mostly only disagree on immigration reform and some foreign-policy matters.
And while "Dump Trump" movements are growing, pressure from conservative activists is mounting on Rubio to block Trump from the GOP nomination and join other former rivals, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in backing Cruz.
"He doesn't want to look like Jeb Bush," said a Rubio backer.
"By the time Jeb quit, he had no credibility and his endorsement meant nothing, which is part of the reason we suspect he didn't endorse Marco in Florida. It wouldn't have helped, and we didn't want it anyway."
Although Cruz's campaign did not confirm or deny discussions with Rubio, Politico reports that one adviser made it clear Cruz would appreciate Rubio's support.
"Obviously, there are a lot of conversations going on with a lot of people, and that includes Rubio's people," a Cruz adviser said. "Look, if Lindsey Graham is endorsing Ted that should tell you something."
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