Rand Paul calls Marco Rubio the 'weakest' candidate on immigration, says he has more of an allegiance 'to liberals'
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) came out swinging during Tuesday's CNN Republican debate, saying that when it comes to immigration, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is not only the "weakest of all the candidates," but also has "more of an allegiance to Chuck Schumer and to the liberals than he does to conservative policy." The Schumer dig was a direct reference to Rubio's role on the bipartisan "Gang of Eight," which tried and failed to pass immigration reform in 2013.
"The one thing that might have stopped San Bernardino, that might have stopped 9/11, would have been stricter controls on those who came here, and Marco has opposed at every point increased security, border security, for those who come to our country," Paul said. The senator from Kentucky said that last week, he introduced a bill "saying we need more security, more scrutiny, and once again Marco opposed this."
Rubio replied by saying the bill only received 10 votes, because it didn't focus on terrorists but would have banned people coming to the United States as tourists. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie entered the fray to call out both senators. "If your eyes are glazed over like mine, this is what it's like to be on the floor of the United States Senate," he said. "Endless debates about how many angels are on the head of a pin from people who have never had to make a consequential decision in an executive position." Christie declared that "nobody in America" cared about the back and forth, adding: "What they care about is, are we going to have a president who actually know what they're doing to actually make these decisions?"
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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.
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