MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio. Good morning to you, Senator.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Good morning, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: In recent days, the Harris campaign has said they have seen favorable movement towards them with Latinos and with undecided voters, particularly following that New York rally we referenced there, with the insult comment making remarks about Puerto Rico. You’ve been focused on outreach to Hispanic voters for the Trump campaign. Are you concerned that this unforced error hurt outreach?
SEN. RUBIO: Well, there was no unforced error. I mean, a comedian made a joke and it was tasteless, but it wasn’t Trump that said it. It wasn’t- this guy is not going to be in his cabinet. This comedian is not going to be a member of his government. He’s certainly not running for anything. It was a comedian who tells tasteless jokes all the time. I encourage everyone to- well, I guess watch segments of the Tom Brady roast, and you’ll see the kind of jokes he tells. He’s an insult comic. Look, there’s no new outreach to–
MARGARET BRENNAN: At a Trump rally.
SEN. RUBIO: Yeah. I mean, I don’t know–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Hired by the–
SEN. RUBIO: –he spoke two hours before Trump.
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Trump campaign.
SEN. RUBIO: Well, again, I think what’s more relevant, if you want to say- so, it had to be done- in hindsight, the guy probably doesn’t get invited, okay, especially with a joke like that. But I think more relevant is the fact that the sitting President of the United States said out loud what most people in the Democratic Party and hierarchy believe, and that is that anyone who votes for Donald Trump is garbage, is a racist, is a hater, is a Nazi, as- as the Vice President candidate of theirs has accused anyone who attended the Madison Square Garden rally. MSNBC was running images of Nazi rallies from Germany side by side with images from Madison Square Garden a week ago. So there- you asked me, why are they so confident? If you’re so confident about victory, the way the Harris people say they are, then why would you be out there attacking, not Donald Trump, attacking anyone who is thinking about voting for him by labeling them as, if you vote for Donald Trump, you’re this evil, horrible human being. That doesn’t seem to be like the actions of a confident campaign. It seems to me like the actions of a scared one.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I was speaking specifically about that- that outreach that you’ve been doing to Hispanic voters. It sounds like you think this is negligible. But let me ask you about women voters, because we’re seeing in our data that the Trump campaign may have an issue there. Here’s what former Trump administration UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said this past week about that Madison Square Garden rally.
(BEGIN SOUND ON TAPE)
NIKKI HALEY: This bromance and this masculinity stuff. I mean, it- it borders on edgy to the point that it’s going to make women uncomfortable. You know, you’ve got affiliated PACs that are doing commercials about calling Kamala the C word, or you had speakers at Madison Square Gardens, you know, referring to her and her pimps. That is not the way to win women.
(END SOUND ON TAPE)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you share the former governor’s concerns that this is a vulnerability?
SEN. RUBIO: Well, first of all, I want to point out, and no one talks about this, Kamala Harris has a bigger problem among men than Donald Trump does among women. Are there women that are going to vote for Kamala Harris? Of course. Are there women that don’t like Donald Trump? Of course. Are there women that are going to support Donald Trump? Yes, there are a lot of them. And I think you’ll see that bear out on Election Day. Ultimately, the bottom line is that what this election is going to be about- when people go vote, they’re not- they’re going to be voting on three things that are critical to them. How much does it cost to live in this country, and can you afford the things that people work hard to be able to afford, because over the last four years, they have not. Do you feel safe and secure? And the answer is no, people do not, face- feel safe and secure when you have dangerous criminal elements entering this country across the open border that Kamala Harris allowed. And number three is, how close is this country to being dragged into some sort of global conflict? We now have troops from North Korea side by side with Russians on the ground in Ukraine. We’re edging closer every single month to some broader global conflict that could involve the United States. And guess who’s going to have to go fight in those wars? The sons and the daughters and the children of the people who are going to decide this election, and that includes over half the country, which is women voters. That’s what’s going to be on people’s mind, and that’s what should be on their mind, because that’s what’s at stake in this election.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, in terms of safety and security, that sound bite a moment ago from Donald Trump talking about training guns on the face of Liz Cheney, the Trump campaign–
SEN. RUBIO: That’s not what he said.
MARGARET BRENNAN: –says that was about foreign policy. Well, we just played it for our viewers and listeners who heard it. Isn’t it possible to make the case without using rhetoric like that?
SEN. RUBIO: But Donald Trump doesn’t talk like someone who’s been in Washington for 30 years. He doesn’t say it–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Training guns on her face?
SEN. RUBIO: –the way I would have said it. No, but that’s not what he said. Margaret, you guys know that. Come on, everybody knows exactly what he was saying. What he was saying is–
MARGARET BRENNAN: We played the soundbite.
SEN. RUBIO: –you’re so much in favor of war. Yeah you- no, you played a piece of the sound bite because in another piece of it, he said he would give her a gun to go stand in conflict as well. You don’t normally give a gun to someone that is going to be facing a firing squad, which is what much of the media made it sound like. The point he was making is not a new point. It is a point that has been made by people in both parties for decades, and that is, you’re all for war, and it’s easy to be for war when you’re in some fancy building and you’re safe and sound in Washington, DC. Let’s see how much you are for war when you yourself get deployed into combat. That’s the point that he was making. That he uses language that maybe is not what we typically hear from someone that works at a think tank, fine. But I think it’s truly, not just unfair, it’s egregious to see that reported the way that it was, along with other things that are out there. I’ve never seen such a concerted effort- and look, I’ve always believed there’s bias, because no one’s unbiased, but I’ve never seen such a concerted effort like what I’ve seen, especially in the last two weeks, among multiple media outlets in this country to, in some cases, breathlessly distort and lie about what’s being said, and to create and manufacture these gotcha moments against Donald Trump. I’ve never seen it before.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator–
SEN. RUBIO: It’s over the top.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, you are the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee. You also know that former commander in chief is not just some guy off the street, and words matter. U.S. intelligence has specifically warned–
SEN. RUBIO: They matter. They do matter.
MARGARET BRENNAN: –specifically warned about the risk of political violence in this country. Some of it stoked by foreign adversaries, Iran trying to do that, Russia trying to do that in the days after the election. Are you confident in the security and the integrity of the election?
SEN. RUBIO: Well, I’m confident in the security and integrity of the elections, and especially because we have strong systems across this country. It’s spread across 50 states. That doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be problems. We saw problems earlier in the week in Pennsylvania, and they were resolved by a court where people were not allowed, being allowed in one county from accessing their on demand mail ballot at the spot. There are going to be issues like that. They’re being confronted at the front end, and those things are being looked at. Look in the state of Michigan, we know now, and this is not me making it up. I can’t believe it hasn’t received more coverage. A Chinese national registered to vote and voted, and now he’s being charged for doing that. But guess what? His ballot is going to count. We know at least one non-citizen’s ballot is going to count in Michigan because they don’t know which ballot it is and they can’t retrieve it. These are facts. Now, whether that’s widespread or not, I hope not, but these are things that are happening and they need to be watched at. As far as foreign adversaries, sure. I mean, Iran wants to kill Donald Trump. Iran- this has been fully documented. They are trying to kill Donald Trump. You talk about violent rhetoric, he’s the only candidate in this race, and that, not because I wish this on anybody else, who’s had not one but two assassination attempts against his life.
[CROSSTALK]
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right, so–
SEN. RUBIO: So of course, we’re all concerned about it.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. In terms of the case you talked about in Michigan, we have tracked that the Secretary of State of that state has actually brought charges, has made that public. that individual may actually be deported–
SEN. RUBIO: –Yeah. But that vote’s still going to count
MARGARET BRENNAN: May actually be deported because there are laws in this country that punish people–
SEN. RUBIO: They are. But the vote still counts
MARGARET BRENNAN: When they are illegal and they try to vote in federal elections, that 19 year old consequences–
SEN. RUBIO: –Correct, but the vote still counts. He is. But his vote still counts. His vote will still be counted.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Understood. I’m just trying to make clear that there are systems–
SEN. RUBIO: That’s a big deal. I think that’s a big deal
MARGARET BRENNAN: There are systems as you pointed to, as the courts are also playing a role here. I need to ask you about China, though. This massive and pervasive hacking by China of US telecom companies is significant. Your colleague, Mark Warner said it’s the most significant breach he has ever seen in his entire time on the committee. Do you know if China has been able to access the audio of Americans’ phone calls?
SEN. RUBIO: Well, I’m not going to comment on what they access, but I agree with Mark Warner’s statement. It is an egregious, outrageous and dangerous breach of our telecommunications systems across multiple companies. I’ll leave it at that. I think as time goes on, we’re going to learn more about it. Some of it will be made public. I think there’s more that’s still being gathered. It’s a very serious situation that we face. And I think one that is quite threatening, maybe not directly to the election per se, but certainly to the national security of our country moving forward. It’s a vulnerability that no one imagined or anticipated, but here it is.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Understood. Senator Rubio, thank you for your time today. We’ll be back in a minute.
