Former Florida allies Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio go off on each other at combative GOP debate

Jeb Bush v. Marco Rubio
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) turned a presidential debate question asking him if he "hates his job" into a diatribe on the mainstream media, and then quickly went on the offensive after Jeb Bush called him out for missing several votes in the Senate.

In an editorial earlier in the day, the Sun Sentinel in Florida said because he is running for president, Rubio has missed more votes than any other senator this year and is "ripping us off." When asked at Wednesday's GOP debate if he hated his job, Rubio didn't respond, instead lashing out at the Sun Sentinel for not saying anything when John Kerry and President Obama missed votes while on the campaign trail. "This is another example of a double standard that exists in this country between the mainstream media and conservatives," he said to applause.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.