Sen. Marco Rubio (R-TX) patted himself on the back after a third place finish in the Iowa caucuses, telling a Des Moines audience “this is the moment they said would never happen.”
“I will be our nominee, thanks to what you have done here in this great state,” Rubio said. “When I am our nominee, we are going to unify this party, and we are going to unify the conservative movement. When I’m our nominee, we are going to grow the conservative movement.”
Rubio took approximately 23 percent of the Associated Press votes counted by 11 p.m. ET, in a surprisingly close finish behind winner Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and runner-up Donald Trump. Cruz took approximately 28 percent of the vote, and Trump garnered approximately 24 percent.
Rubio, the first candidate to speak after GOP poll results were called, spent much of his speech bashing President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
