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Rubio’s promise not to campaign against fellow Florida senator lasted two weeks

Rubio said he wouldn't campaign against Bill Nelson. Now he has.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL, center) has broken his promise not to campaign against Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL, right)
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL, center) has broken his promise not to campaign against Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL, right). CREDIT: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has flip-flopped yet again. This time, he did so by breaking a promise he made just 13 days ago.

Rubio tweeted on Monday morning in support of Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL), who announced a bid for U.S. Senate earlier in the day. Scott will challenge three-term Democratic incumbent, Bill Nelson. Without offering any specific praise for Scott, Rubio instead focused entirely on a partisan rationale, suggesting that to confirm federal judges, a larger GOP majority is necessary (an odd claim, given that the 51-49 Senate majority has not voted down a single Trump court nominee).

Rubio noted in the tweet that he will be “contributing to, voting for & supporting” Scott’s candidacy, seemingly forgetting a long-ago promise he made not to do so way back on March 27.

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“I don’t campaign against Bill Nelson,” Rubio told reporters at a sit-down interview in his Tallahassee office. “Bill Nelson and I have a very good working relationship.” While he said he would support Scott if he ran, he strongly praised Nelson saying he “could not ask for a better partner, especially from the other party” and noting that he does not work as closely with Scott.

But by publicly endorsing Scott and committing to financially support the man who wrote a fawning op/ed about his own then-2016 GOP presidential opponent in January 2016, it took Rubio less than two weeks to break his promise not to campaign against Bill Nelson.

Even his myriad flip-flops on immigration policy usually took at least twice that.