During a contentious interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Senator Marco Rubio staunchly defended chilling remarks made by Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts, suggesting potential bloodshed if Donald Trump is not re-elected. The Florida Republican, vying to be Trump’s running mate, dismissed concerns raised by host Dana Bash over the alarming comments, brushing them off saying: as routine think tank rhetoric.
Roberts, linked to Project 2025 and supported by former Trump aides, had hinted at a “bloodless” second American Revolution, contingent on the left’s compliance. When pressed about his stance on such inflammatory language, Rubio evaded direct criticism, pivoting to praise Trump.
“Well, he’s not running for president is he?’ Rubio replied “I mean our candidate is Donald Trump. I didn’t hear Donald Trump say that. Donald Trump’s running on common sense, on restoring common sense versus the lunacy of the last four years and the far left and the shadow government that now is running our country. ”
“Think tanks do think tank stuff,” Rubio remarked, minimizing the gravity of Roberts’ words. “They come up with ideas, they say things. Look, I like Heritage Foundation. I agree with some of the things they stand for, but there’s a bunch of scholars and people to turn around and work on different projects, but our candidate for president is Donald Trump and Donald Trump is running on restoring common sense, working-class values and making decisions on the basis of that, not an ideological lunacy, which is what we’ve seen over the last four years.”
Bash persisted, questioning whether Project 2025 represented “ideological lunacy,” to which Rubio defensively characterized it as standard fare for center-right think tanks engaged in policy discussions.
“No, I think it’s the work of a think tank of center-right think tank and that’s what think tanks do.,” Rubio asserted.
Watch the exchange below from CNN:
