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Marco Rubio Doesn't Think Trump Can Be Trusted With Nuclear Codes, Still Wants Him As President

He Doesn't Trust Trump With Nuclear Codes But Wants Him As President
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and business man Donald Trump spoke at the Republican presidential debate in Detroit, Michigan, on March 3, 2016.
Jim Young / Reuters
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and business man Donald Trump spoke at the Republican presidential debate in Detroit, Michigan, on March 3, 2016.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Thursday he'll vote for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, but still doesn't trust him with America's nuclear arsenal.

"I stand by everything I said during the campaign," Rubio told the Weekly Standard, when asked about a statement he made in February, before he dropped out of the presidential race, that he didn't want to turn over the U.S. nuclear codes "to an erratic individual."

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and business man Donald Trump spoke at the Republican presidential debate in Detroit, Michigan, on March 3, 2016.
Jim Young / Reuters
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and business man Donald Trump spoke at the Republican presidential debate in Detroit, Michigan, on March 3, 2016.

Rubio has doubled down on that claim before, telling reporters in May that his "policy differences and reservations about Donald’s campaign are well-established." Rubio said he would vote for Trump because he signed a pledge to support the Republican presidential nominee.

Rubio recently told CNN he would be willing to speak on Trump's behalf at the Republican National Convention in July. Rubio bowed out of the Republican presidential primary in March.

Others also have expressed misgivings about trusting Trump with the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) in March called a question about Trump potentially having the nuclear codes "tough." President Barack Obama and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton both have said the American people wouldn't trust Trump with the codes.

Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.

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