Though he’s shied away from campaigning with Donald Trump, former presidential candidate Senator Marco Rubio will be appearing with Republican vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence, an aide to the Indiana governor told ABC News.
The two could begin campaigning together in the battleground state of Florida in the next few weeks, the aide said, adding that Pence and Rubio have been in regular contact over the phone.
According to the Rubio campaign, no joint events are "scheduled at this time," but "Marco has tremendous respect and admiration for Governor Pence."
Campaigning with Rubio is the latest in a series of moves that Pence has made to mend bridges with Republicans to rally the party behind their presidential nominee. In his first month as Trump’s running mate, Pence has met privately with John McCain and Jeb Bush. He’s also reached out to John Kasich and Ted Cruz.
Earlier this year, Trump and Rubio faced off in a fiery Republican primary during which Trump called Rubio "Little Marco" and the Florida senator mocked Trump’s "small hands."
Eventually losing his home state to Trump in a landslide, Rubio said he would support the Republican nominee but later said he still didn’t think Trump could be trusted with the nuclear codes. Rubio added he planned to keep Trump in check in the Senate.
He also said he didn't plan on making any personal appearances with Trump.
"Not that I'm looking to undermine him, but I think the differences between us on key issues are so significant that I don't plan -- I've got to run my own race," Rubio told CNN in June.
Yesterday, Rubio said he supports Trump for president, but is not rescinding his previous remarks that Trump is a "con man."
"I’ve stood by everything I ever said in my campaign," Rubio said in an interview with the Miami Herald.
The latest NBC/WSJ/Marist poll has Clinton at 44 percent in Florida, and Trump at 39.
Poster Comment:
Pence is lying, Rubio doesn't want Trump's poison pill endorsement.
Rubio is right, Trump is a con man with small hands.
"Rubio is running strong in Florida so we are realigning our television spend to other areas for this week," In Florida, Rubio currently leads Democratic challenger Rep. Patrick Murphy — considered his likely challenger by Republican Party officials — by 5.8 points, according to the RealClearPolitics average of recent polls.
The Koch's network in the Sunshine State includes 16 field offices and 165 field staff, the Hill reports.
