Former Democratic operative turned journalist George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday grilled Marco Rubio about his finances, parroting claims that he’s a “risky bet.” The Good Morning America host dwelled on this topic for five questions and touted an attack from Hillary Clinton.
Stephanopoulos highlighted, “Jeb Bush also in his campaign putting out the idea that you're a risky bet and raising questions that came up in your past campaigns about using the Republican Party credit card down in Florida for personal use.”
Citing another source, the former aide to Bill Clinton demanded, “The Tampa Bay Times has a question about that this morning, saying that at least two years of those records are still secret. What should voters know about all of this?”
Stephanopoulos underlined, “So, bottom line, When Bush's team says you're a risky bet because of this, they're wrong?”
Speaking of finances, Stephanopoulos secretly donated $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation.
These types of questions stand in contrast to the softballs Stephanopoulos offered to Donald Trump, Tuesday. For that candidate, he offered queries such as “What do you want voters to know about Donald Trump, the man?” and “We saw [your wife] Melania after the debate last week....You going to see more of her on the campaign trail?”
On Wednesday, Stephanopoulos repeated Hillary Clinton talking points to Rubio:
STEPHANOPOULOS: You want to be on the stage with Hillary Clinton. She actually called you out yesterday as well on the issue of immigration reform...saying you used to be for comprehensive immigration reform then basically caved to pressure of the Republican Party.
A transcript of the November 4 segment is below:
7:04
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Marco Rubio joins us right now. We just saw that poll. You are rising, led to a Washington Post headline this morning, it shows — it says Rubio rising, also becoming a target. And it quotes a GOP strategist saying that the next 100 days are going to be brutal for you. Are you ready for it?
MARCO RUBIO: The last 100 days haven't been easy. So, I don't know what he's comparing it to. I'm running for president. It’s a big office. It’s an important position, the most important political office on the planet. And we knew it would be difficult, but we're going to continue on our message and we will certainly answer questions and address falsehoods or anything people say. But I'm going to remain focused on the future of America which is what this election needs to be about, because this nation is at a generational point where it needs to choose what kind of country it's going to be in the 21st century.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Seems like every candidate was out there hitting you yesterday, including Donald Trump right here on your personal finances. Take a look.
DONALD TRUMP: I mean, he is a disaster with his credit cards. You know, he certainly lives above his mean, there's no question about that.
RUBIO: [Laughing] Well, I'm sorry. You know —
STEPHANOPOULOS: You get a kick out of Donald Trump? But he was raising an important issue. You know, this came up at the debate last week. You had to draw down on your retirement account to pay living expenses. Does that show —
RUBIO: No, I didn’t. That's not accurate. So, bottom line is I obviously don't come from a wealthy family. I had student loans. I only have one debt in the world, which is the mortgage on the home that me and my family live in Miami. And as I said, we are running for president I wanted to make sure we had cash on hands for all kinds of things that come up.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So, that is living expenses.
RUBIO: Well, obviously it's not day-to-day living expenses. It's things like, for example, if your refrigerator break, we live in south Florida, if our air-conditioning unit goes gown, we have a ten-year-old house now. So, I’m out in New Hampshire and I get a phone call, “your air conditioning is broken,” that's a crisis in south Florida. So, we wanted to make sure we had access to that. I send my kids to private Christian schools. That's a significant amount of money every year. I see it as an investment in their future. So that's what that was. But ultimately I have two debts, of the mortgage on my home and the fact that, America, I owe so much to this country because of everything its made possible for me and my family.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Jeb Bush also in his campaign putting out the idea that you're a risky bet and raising questions that came up in your past campaigns about using the Republican Party credit card down in Florida for personal use. And the Tampa Bay Times has a question about that this morning, saying that at least two years of those records are still secret. What should voters know about all of this and —
RUBIO: That’s not accurate. Well, first of all, every expend on that card is detailed in the Republican Party accounts that they file every month with — reports they have to file with the state. It doesn't say who they belong to but every expense is on there and as we said we'll release those soon.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Those two years. From 2005, 2006?
RUBIO: Yeah, but people need to understand what they're talking about. It wasn't a credit card. It was an American Express charge card secured under my personal credit in conjunction with the Party. I would go — bills would be mailed to me at home. Every month I would go through it. If there was a personal expense, I paid it. If it was a party expense, the party paid it. Now I recognize in hindsight I would do it different to avoid confusion. But the Republican Party never paid a single personal expense of mine, personal expense. This is unfortunately when this was initially reported in the press, it was made into something bigger than it actual is. I wouldn't do it the same way again to avoid all these stories but the Republican Party never paid any of my personal expenses.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So, bottom line, When Bush's team says you're a risky bet because of this, they're wrong?
RUBIO: I think they're running a campaign that has somehow concluded, you know, Jeb, someone told him you got to attack Marco in order to win. I don't agree. It’s not going to change my campaign. Now, I'm going to continue to run a positive message for America’s future. If there are policy differences between ‘em, we should discuss them and not just with Jeb but anybody on the field but I'm not going to attack other Republicans. We're doing Hillary Clinton's work for her.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You want to be on the stage with Hillary Clinton. She actually called you out yesterday as well on the issue of immigration reform —
RUBIO: Oh, good!
STEPHANOPOULOS: — saying you used to be for comprehensive immigration reform then basically caved to pressure of the Republican Party.
RUBIO: Yeah, because it can't pass -- we’re not going to pass comprehensive immigration reform in this country. We're not going to pass it after a migratory crisis on the southern border where minors were being sent here unaccompanied after two unconstitutional executive orders. I'm being honest. They're the ones that are not being truthful. The only way forward is through a series of steps that begins with border security. And it's funny that Democrats attack Republicans for not doing what they didn't do when they had a majority in the House, a supermajority in the Senate, Barack Obama in the White House, they did nothing on immigration. And now they attack Republicans for not doing what they themselves dn't do when they had the power because this issue cannot be tackled in one massive piece of legislation.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Finally to get on the stage with her you might have to get past Senator Ted Cruz. He’s also rising after the last debate. Both of you young, 44 years old Both of Cuban descent, both first term senators and both support of the Tea Party. What sets you apart from Ted Cruz?
RUBIO: Well, we’re going to have a debate and we will let people decide that. I like Ted Cruz. Ted is a friend of mine. I think it’s interesting that the four top candidates in that field, two of them, three of them of the four come from minority backgrounds which speaks a lot to the diversity of the Republican Party and the strength of our party.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Two with no government experience.
RUBIO: Well, again, that speaks to the mood in the country. People are angry and they should be at Washington, D.C. You know, I've only been there four and a half years but I have shared in that frustration and one of the reasons I chose to run for president.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Marco Rubio, thanks for coming in this morning.
