Marco Rubio on Saturday laughed off Donald Trump’s boast that he could shoot someone and wouldn’t lose voters, telling reporters “I wouldn’t recommend that he do that.”
“It’s probably not a good idea for him to do that and I would not recommend that he do it but you know … that’s Donald,” Rubio said, and then broke into laughter.
Rubio said that too-restrictive gun laws are the real issue in New York.
“The bigger problem in New York is, it’s almost impossible to even have a gun and protect your families, so that’s why it’s so important our next president be someone who defends the Second Amendment,” Rubio said.
Rubio has emphasized his commitment to gun rights on the campaign trail in recent weeks, telling voters in New Hampshire last weekend about buying a gun on Christmas Eve in order to protect his family and touring an arms manufacturer, where he bought a rifle.
Rubio’s joke Saturday night came in response to a reporter’s question following a town hall in Indianola, Iowa on Saturday night, after Trump made the brag earlier Saturday during a campaign rally in Sioux Center, Iowa.
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“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay?” Trump said. “It’s, like, incredible.”
Jeb Bush, speaking in Merrimack, New Hampshire, told reporters that if Trump followed through with his claim “he’ll probably be convicted of a first degree felony and sent to prison.”
“Felons probably can’t run for president — I’m just saying,” Bush said. Ted Cruz declined to weigh in on Trump’s comments at an event in Ankeny, telling reporters, “I will let Donald speak for himself.” “I can say I have no intention of shooting anybody in this campaign,” Cruz said. This article first appeared on NBCNews.com.
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