Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) flatly rejected Donald Trump’s claim that he and Jeb Bush "hate each other" on Fox News Friday morning.
“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Rubio said, before insisting that he admires Bush and is a friend.
“I’m not running against Jeb,” he explained. “I’m running for president.”
Recent developments, however, probably have some voters wondering if Trump’s assertion has merit. On “Morning Joe” early Thursday morning, Bush compared Rubio to President Obama, suggesting he doesn’t have the experience necessary to lead the country.
MORNING JOE: You do not think [Rubio] has the skills to fix things?
BUSH: No. Barack Obama didn't end up having them, and he won an election based on the belief that people had that he could.
Some Rubio supporters think Jeb’s attack is borne out of desperation because of his poor polling. He is currently in fifth place, with Rubio just slightly ahead. The Real Clear Politics average gives the senator a .5 percent advantage.
Panic time for Jeb?
“I don’t know if he’s desperate, but it’s starting to stink like he is,” said Peter Brown, a top Rubio donor in South Carolina. “He’s on the verge of becoming invisible in this race and all of sudden, look who he’s going after.”
Yet, Rubio’s remarks today indicate there’s no bad blood between the two Florida Republicans. As for those Trump comments, Rubio repeated “Who cares?”