Marco Rubio on Friday ruled out teaming up with Ted Cruz to stop Donald Trump, calling it “stuff from like House of Cards” and saying he was solely focused on winning the Republican nomination.
“I have never talked to Ted Cruz about that. I’ve never talked to anybody about that. People put stuff on Twitter all the time. This is stuff from like ‘House of Cards.’ It’s not real life. I’m running for president,” Rubio said when asked by CNN’s Dana Bash about the possibility of him joining a Cruz ticket.
Rubio, who has slipped in the polls and is facing a critical test Tuesday in his home state of Florida, said the best way to stop Trump would be for him to win the nomination.
“The best way to do it is to win an election here in Florida. That’s the best way to do it. But I have not discussed, other than I’m aware some people on their blogs have discussed these things, but there’s no effort to do that,” he said. “I’m not open to it. I’ve never talked to anybody about that. I’m open to one thing, and that’s winning Florida on Tuesday and going on from there and getting the delegates I need to be the nominee, or at least more delegates than anybody else.”
As Cruz has emerged as the chief contender with Trump for the nomination, conservative pundits have been musing over running mates for him. The National Review posted an item from Ramesh Ponnuru titled “Crubio or Crasich” Wednesday, one day after the latest round of Republican contests.
Florida and Ohio are considered must-wins for Republicans looking to block Trump, and Rubio spokesman Alex Conant said Friday that Republican primary voters in Ohio should vote for Ohio Gov. John Kasich.