Would Marco Rubio still support Donald Trump if he's nominee? 'I don't know. It's getting harder every day'
A visibly despairing (and exhausted) Marco Rubio admitted to reporters Saturday morning that he's struggling with the idea of supporting presidential rival Donald Trump if Trump becomes the Republican nominee.
"I don't know," Rubio said before a rally in Largo. "It's getting harder every day."
He equivocated the day after Trump canceled a Chicago rally, spurring clashes among protesters and supporters, and several arrests. Thursday night, Trump's rivals were given the chance in a debate to condemn previous violence at the front-runner's rallies, but they were careful with what they said -- and then unleashed much stronger criticism Friday night and Saturday morning.
Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to blame "thugs" for protesting the candidate's presence.
The organized group of people, many of them thugs, who shut down our First Amendment rights in Chicago, have totally energized America!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2016
A CBS News reporter was also detained, which the network's president denounced.
.@SopanDeb was handcuffed, later charged with resisting arrest; on tape you see he did not resist, identified himself as working press
— David Rhodes (@davidgrayrhodes) March 12, 2016
Trump will be in Boca on Sunday and Doral on Monday. Last time he was in Doral, in October, a protester was roughed up by crowd members as he was being escorted out of the hall.
This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Would Marco Rubio still support Donald Trump if he's nominee? 'I don't know. It's getting harder every day'."