Florida Sen. Marco Rubio refused to say Wednesday that he would no longer accept money from the National Rifle Association, telling a town hall meeting that "I will always accept the help of anyone who agrees with my agenda."
In a tense exchange in which Cameron Kasky, 17, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, repeatedly pressed Rubio, the second-term Republican eventually said that "people buy into my agenda.
"And I do support the Second Amendment.
"And I also support the right of you and everyone here to be able to go to school and be safe," Rubio said. "And I do support any law that would keep guns out of the hands of a deranged killer — and that's why I support the things I have stood for and fought for … "
"More NRA money?" Kasky interjected as the crowd roared.
"That is the wrong way to look," Rubio responded. "First of all, the answer is, people buy into my agenda … "
" … You can say 'No'?" Kasky asked.
After some back and forth with Rubio, Kasky pressed further: "I'll ask again. Are you accepting money from the NRA in the future?"
"I will always accept the help of anyone who agrees with my agenda," the senator responded.
"I will do what I think is right.
"And if people want to support my agenda, they're welcome to do so," Rubio said. "But they buy into my ideas.
"I don't buy into theirs."
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