The long brewing feud between Florida rivals Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio boiled over Wednesday when Bush went after the senator for missing votes while running for president.
“He’s a gifted politician, but Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term and you should be showing up to work,” Bush said at the CNBC debate. “I mean literally, the Senate, what is it, a French work week? You get like three days where you have to show up. You can campaign or just resign and let somebody else take the job.”
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Most of the senators running in 2016 have missed votes while on the campaign trail, but Rubio leads the pack. The Florida Sun Sentinel called on him to resign in a recent editorial.
Rubio, who for weeks has been criticized for missing votes, was ready. He said 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain, who Bush has cited as proof that his stalling campaign is far from done, also missed votes while on the trail.
“I don’t ever remember you complaining about John McCain’s vote record,” Rubio said. “The only reason why you’re doing it now is because we’re running for the same position and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you.”
Andrew Rafferty