During an interview that aired on Friday’s CBS Evening News, chief White House correspondent Major Garrett spoke with Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio and wondered aloud if the situation in the House of Representatives concerning the search for the next Speaker of the House signaled the “important historical meltdown of the Republican Party.”
After asking Rubio about Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal, Garrett turned the focus of attention to “the future of the Republican Party with the speakership of John Boehner in shambles and succession uncertain.”
Garrett then posed this rather broad theory to the Florida Senator: “Are we witnessing a sort of important historical meltdown of...the modern Republican Party?”
Firing back at the liberal question, Rubio responded that premise is far from the reality:
I don't think it's a meltdown at all. First of all, in fact, if they had gone into some secret room and anointed someone everybody would have said the game is rigged. There's no real competition. There’s no real choices. What you have is an open and public debate among the members of the House reflective of the broader debate in the Republican Party.
Pivoting his campaign’s message, Rubio further added:
Which is what is this party going to be in the 21st century? Has not the time come for us to turn the page and elevate new leaders with new ideas relevant with the times in which we live. I would say that we can have a debate in our party about the appropriate tactics. I personally do not believe it is a wise tactic to declare defeat before you even try to win. I think that's what this election in many ways will decide, what kind of party the Republican Party is going to be in the 21st century and ultimately help decide what kind of country we're going to be over the next 50-100 years.
Before tossing back to anchor Scott Pelley, Garrett tried to throw cold water on Rubio’s rise in the polls as pandering to Donald Trump:
Rubio says congressional Republican leaders have folded on abortion, ObamaCare, the Iran nuclear deal, and the debt limit. Rubio, if that sounds like an echo of GOP front-runner Donald Trump, it is as Rubio, once a tea party darling, tries to regain some of the that outsider credibility.
The transcript of the segment from the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley on October 16 can be found below.
CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley
October 16, 2015
6:38 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: On the Trail]
SCOTT PELLEY: Those e-mails were one of the subjects of Major Garrett's interview with Republican contender Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.
REPUBLICAN SENATOR MARCO RUBIO (Fl.): She was less than truthful about it repeatedly and it goes to the issue of both competence and credibility. It is irresponsible for an elected official in her capacity to be discussing highly sensitive things on a format that she had to have known was not fully secured.
GARRETT: And the risk of is that is?
RUBIO: The risk of that is we're giving opponents of this government or adversaries some insight into our thinking, into our decision making, and it provides most certainly an advantage in the national security realm.
GARRETT: We also asked about the future of the Republican party with the speakership of John Boehner in shambles and succession uncertain. [TO RUBIO] Are we witnessing a sort of important historical meltdown of the –
RUBIO: I don't think so.
GARRETT: – of the modern Republican Party.
RUBIO: I don't think it's a meltdown at all. First of all, in fact, if they had gone into some secret room and anointed someone everybody would have said the game is rigged. There's no real competition. There’s no real choices. What you have is an open and public debate among the members of the House reflective of the broader debate in the Republican Party.
GARRETT: When is what?
RUBIO: Which is what is this party going to be in the 21st century? Has not the time come for us to turn the page and elevate new leaders with new ideas relevant with the times in which we live. I would say that we can have a debate in our party about the appropriate tactics. I personally do not believe it is a wise tactic to declare defeat before you even try to win. I think that's what this election in many ways will decide, what kind of party the Republican Party is going to be in the 21st century and ultimately help decide what kind of country we're going to be over the next 50-100 years.
GARRETT: Rubio says congressional Republican leaders have folded on abortion, ObamaCare, the Iran nuclear deal, and the debt limit. Rubio, if that sounds like an echo of GOP front-runner Donald Trump, it is as Rubio, once a tea party darling, tries to regain some of the that outsider credibility.
PELLEY: Major Garrett with the interview tonight. Major, thank you.
