Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said the mass shooting this weekend in Orlando, Florida, gave him pause about his service and “deeply impacted” him, remarks that were widely read as pushing the door back open on possibly running for re-election.
Asked Monday by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt if the attack would make him reconsider his decision not to run for re-election, Rubio said he hadn’t “given it thought from that perspective.”
“I’ve been deeply impacted by it,” he continued. “When it visits your home state and it impacts a community you know well, it really gives you pause to think about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country.”
Rubio went on to say another run is “not part of our plan as a family” and that a friend is running for his seat.
“I really don’t want to link the two things right now, because I don’t want politics to intrude in all of this,” he said. “My family and I will be praying about all this, and we’ll see what I need to do next with my life in regards to how I can best serve.”
Hewitt said he hoped it would lead Rubio to run for re-election.
Listen to the full segment, with the above exchange starting around the 3:40 mark, via YouTube:
