GOP VP Hopeful Marco Rubio on the Latino Vote and Trump Anti-Immigrant Views

On Wednesday night, Noticias Telemundo broadcast a wide-ranging Spanish-language interview with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who reportedly is on the short list to be Donald Trump’s running mate for the 2024 presidential election. On Thursday, Telemundo provided The Latino Newsletter an English-language transcript of the interview, and in the interest of sharing everything that Rubio said without edits or summaries, here is the full exchange between anchor Julio Vaqueiro (who did a strong job with his questions and his follow-ups) and the politician who could make history as the first Latino vice presidential candidate of a major U.S. political party:

INTERVIEW WITH NOTICIAS TELEMUNDO ANCHOR JULIO VAQUEIRO AND SENATOR MARCO RUBIO

JUNE 13, 2024 

Note: This is a rush transcript translated from Spanish to English, and subject to change.

 Rules of use: Mandatory credit as “Noticias Telemundo interview.”

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Thank you for your time, Senator.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Thank you very much.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: How are you?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Well, I think. I’m very busy, but doing well, thank God.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Your name is on Trump’s list of possible vice presidential running mates. Have you talked to the Trump campaign?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: No, I haven’t talked to them about it. I went through the same speculation with Romney in 2012, and that's normal, because the primary campaigns are over and the conventions being next, and obviously, a debate as well. So, there are people covering politics that have to cover something, and, naturally, they're going to pick somebody. I haven't talked to them about that. We'll see what he decides. It would obviously be a great honor if it’s offered to me, but at this point, I haven't had those conversations with them. We'll see what happens. He has a lot of very qualified people who can also step into that position, and we'll see what decision he makes.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But would you like to?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Well, the bottom line is that if one has the opportunity to serve this country as vice president, it's an honor to be considered, and at the same time, a great opportunity to continue to serve. I’m happy in my role in the Senate, but to have the possibility of being part of the executive branch is something that one has to consider very seriously. But that’s not up to me, so we will see what happens. But the good thing is that we Republicans have a list of over 10, 15 people that could be great candidates as well, and in the end, I think he’ll make a good choice. We’ll see who it is.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: What advantages do you think you’d have over other candidates?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: I haven’t thought of it as an advantage, but I’ve obviously worked a lot on the issues of foreign affairs, foreign relations, national security, but in the end, the vice president is not co-president. He’s not a second president. There’s only one president, and the vice president’s role is to be prepared, God forbid, in case anything happens, to be able to function in that role and to have a relationship with the president to be able to advise him. If the vice president disagrees with the president about something, that should never be made public. That’s something that should be discussed at the level of president–vice president, and it shouldn’t be discussed in front of the staff either because that division is negative for the country. But as I said, I’m not advocating that it should be me. I believe that there are other people who can fill that role as well, but the decision is up to him, as the candidate, and we'll see what he decides.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: How did your relationship with Trump change? Because you said he was a danger. He called you “Little Marco.”

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Yes.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: How did this transition happen?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: It's like asking a boxer why he punched his opponent. We were in a competition. I didn't know him.I knew him from the press, he being a celebrity and all, but I didn't really know him on a personal level, and we never really had a negative relationship on a personal level, even during the campaign.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But the campaign was tense.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: But that was a contest. That always happens during contests. Kamala Harris also had very strong words for Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama also had a very tough contest, and at the end of the day, she was his Secretary of State. But that’s over. The voters chose Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, he was elected president, and we work very closely on issues of great importance. For example, the PPP plan that helped small businesses that were going to close in this country because there was no economic activity...

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Because of the pandemic.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: ...due to the government shutdown because of the pandemic. That saved millions of small businesses. At the same time, we worked together to increase the Child Tax Credit for working families, something that his daughter was also instrumental in. And on Latin American issues, be it Cuba, Venezuela. We even reached a moment when a large majority of the democratic countries in the region had united under the Lima Group to confront the threat posed by [Nicolás] Maduro and his narco-terrorism. Donald Trump's leadership was key in all of that. So, that working relationship together that I came to respect, his ability to listen and to learn, especially on issues that as a businessman he’d never really dealt with before.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: If this happens, you’d be the first Latino vice president in U.S. history. How would the lives of Latinos change with you as vice president?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Well, my first thought is always how would the lives of Americans change? Hispanic Americans, Latinos are Americans. They pay the same taxes, they live in the same cities, their children attend the same schools, they suffer from inflation, they suffer from everything that the country is suffering from. We’re obviously proud of our roots and culture, but at the same time, we accept and understand that we’re part of this country. So, I don't know of anything that’s good for America that’s not good for Hispanic Americans, that's not good for Americans who are Latino and I've always thought so. Now, what I can tell you is that Hispanic communities in this country are mostly working families.

This is not to say that there are no big business people, there are no billionaires and millionaires, but the great majority, for example, of the people I grew up with, are working class, are people who’ve suffered a lot during this economic shift that has been carried out by both parties, such as sending jobs abroad, closing factories, the consequences of the globalization of the economy that has done great harm to working families who today are facing high costs and salaries that have not increased proportionally with the rise of said costs, crime, which is something that worries everyone. Washington, D.C. itself has become a very dangerous city.

And they’re also affected by everything that happens abroad, everything that happens in this country. We're recording here, but just yesterday they arrested seven or eight individuals with ties to ISIS here in the country

If those people detonate a bomb, they kill whoever’s in the vicinity, Hispanics included. So those are all issues of enormous importance to our community. 

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Former President Trump has said that immigrants are poisoning the blood of the country. Can you win the Latino vote with those kinds of statements?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: To begin with, I think he speaks that way and in that manner.

There’ve been Hispanics in his cabinet, or rather, on his staff. As the press mentions, he’s considering one as his vice-presidential running mate. He’s had very strong ties to the community. Second, it’s a mistake to think that the immigration that’s coming into this country is only from Latin America. It’s from all over the world.

I believe that when he speaks that way, what he’s saying is that this is a danger to the country. He’s not talking in an ethnic or racial way. He's talking about how no country can withstand 10 or 11 million people across three and a half years of irregular, uncontrolled, complete chaos on the border. No country allows it.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But he's saying they poison the blood of a country.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: That’s a saying that he uses, but it has nothing to do with race, because in the end, he’s talking about the country, not the population. The country is threatened by this influx of people, which we now know even includes criminals and terrorists.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Yes, but the thing is, as you know, we Latinos are migrants or children of immigrants or grandchildren of migrants. Do you think that the Latino vote can be won that way?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: I think that the most affected communities by this uncontrolled immigration have been the ones with large Hispanic populations. When people come, for example, if they come from Latin America, they’re going to move to Latino communities. In New York, in Miami Dade County, where I live, the schools have been filled by children who have come here. In Chicago, in Los Angeles, in Arizona, in much of Texas. These are communities

The hospitals, the roads, the schools, everything. The public services are straining under the weight of this huge number of people coming in, brought in who have come because this Biden and Kamala Harris Administration has created incentive for people to come here. And those who have benefited the most from all of this are the cartels that are in the business of abusing those immigrants, lying to them in many cases and bringing them here and abusing them along the way, even within this country itself.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: You’ve said that the executive actions, or rather that the executive action that Biden signed a few days ago on the border is a joke.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: It is a joke.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Why is it a joke?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: First, because it doesn't really apply. Let’s assume that he’ll apply it to the fullest extent. We’re still talking about two or three hundred thousand people entering the country illegally. Second, that doesn’t include the category of people under the parole in place program. Third, there is the very real possibility that through this asylum process, people who are already here and are facing charges could have those charges removed. We know they’ve already done it. That wouldn’t change anything. A person requesting asylum could have it denied, and even though the case is no longer in court, the person remains here in a sort of limbo but not at risk of being deported. So you’re creating incentive for more people to come. People come here because they think they can enter the country and stay in it. That’s what’s bringing people here, and that executive action changes nothing.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But it also shares many similarities with some policies that Trump tried to apply, and with the Immigration and Nationality Act itself, which curbs certain migrants from requesting asylum.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: But that had already been curbed...

JULIO VAQUEIRO: It’s the same thing that Trump wanted to do.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: No, not even close. He came into office in January, and in his first month, he signed over 90 executive actions undoing everything that Trump did. Ever since, we’ve seen a massive rise in people coming into the country.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But this executive action reinforces that.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: It’s a small percentage of the 90 that he undid. At the end of the day, due to his mandate, people will show up at the border every day, turn themselves in, and then be released. That will create incentive for more people to come, and it will spread all over the world. We’re not just talking about Latin America. They’re coming from all over the world to our border. And third, I’d say that this is a president that for over two and a half years denied the existence of a border crisis. They denied it one hundred percent. I think that now, given the polls released and the impact that it’s had, they’ve tried to expedite and do certain things that, in my opinion, are strictly symbolic. They don’t change the perception and the reality that if a person arrives today at the U.S. border and turns themselves in, they have a great chance of staying in the country, which will only cause more people to come.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Those people are often fleeing real danger, such as dictatorships in Venezuela and your Cuba. Stricter policies also affect them too.

 SEN. MARCO RUBIO: I understand.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Is it possible to oppose those regimes and yet not lend support to those fleeing there?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: I have two things to say to that. First, I totally understand what you’re talking about, and I know of real cases that reach my office every day.

What I’ll tell you is that at the end of the day, this country can’t take in every person in the world that’s requesting asylum. I wouldn’t deny these people the chance to seek asylum someplace else, but no one country can bear the responsibility of taking in every person that wants to move there. If that were the case, over 100 million people would move here.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: So what’s to be done? What do you think is fair?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: We have to get back to a process in which people don’t have an incentive to enter the country. It’s unfortunate, but that applies to other areas. If one signs a child up for school, no matter how good that school is, there’s a limit to the number of people that fit in that school. If one wants to attend, say, a religious school, one can’t just show up one day and say, “I’m here, and I insist you let my child in.” There’s no room. Every country has its limits, and every country in the world has immigration laws. This country has them, and they must be enforced. If laws are not enforced, there’s lawlessness, and you’re creating a situation in which millions of people are coming to this country, turning themselves in in many cases, and paying these cartels that control this, cartels that commit abuses. It also creates a crisis within the country too. No country could assume the cost of what we’re seeing. At this rate, 10 or 11 million people will become 15 million.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: You’ve also said that you agree with the massive deportations that former President Trump has proposed.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Well, that’s U.S. law.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But you used to say that it wasn’t practical and, moreover, that it was difficult to even apply. You said it.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: That’s right.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Why the change?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Back then, we were talking about a very different case.

Back then, we were talking about 10 or 11 million people who’d been here over a decade. We knew who they were because they’d been here a long time. My thinking at the time was to find a process for those people that are not criminals while at the same time doing something so that it never happened again. Now, on top of those 11 million, in the last few years we’ve taken in nine or 10 million more people. It’s a massive problem and a completely different problem. It’s double the size and growing every day. We’ve seen it in New York, in Denver, in all these cities seeking federal help to fund the burden that’s befallen them. It’s very different.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But wouldn’t more people make it even more difficult, lending more weight to your argument in 2015 or 2016 that it isn’t practical to remove so many people? And where would the budget come from?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Everything starts with enforcing the laws.This country’s laws aren’t complicated. It’s clear as to what people have the right to enter the United States and what the process is. If one isn’t on the list, the law states that one must be detained until they’re released. There have always been exceptions, but this president has turned the exceptions into the rule. It’s now being applied to 80 or 90 percent of the people coming in. That creates a problem for not only the people already here. It creates an incentive for more people to come. This isn’t just a theory of mine. I talk to people and they tell me. “I came here because my brother called me and told me to do this and this and this. I Zelled such and such some money, I came in through Nicaragua without a visa, and arrived in the United States with the help of a group that took me to the border.” Whenever somebody does that, they call others and let them know and more people come. We have to cut that off. I think part of that is removing the incentives. If people think they can show up and stay, more people will come. We can’t take in 10 million more people. When will it end? We have to get this under control. At the end of the day, every country in the world has immigration regulations. We must have them too.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Let me ask you about Trump’s trial.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Which one?

JULIO VAQUEIRO: The most recent in which he was found guilty. You’ve called it a spectacle.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: It is a spectacle.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: [You said] it’s what you’d see in communist countries.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Without a doubt.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Isn’t questioning the justice system and delegitimizing it also endemic of communist and totalitarian regimes?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: First of all, I’d say that the people that do that on a daily basis are the Democrats with their constant criticism of the Supreme Court because they’re displeased with the court’s majority. They constantly criticize the Florida federal judge overseeing the Trump case, so they’re the ones doing it. In this specific case, there are certain key details. The judge was someone who donated money to and supported anti-Trump and anti-Republican efforts just four years ago. Her daughter works on Democratic electoral campaigns, including campaigns that used the trial to raise funds. And third, the charges leveled at him are unprecedented. The statute of limitations for these charges basically expire after five years, and it dealt with how a check that was written was characterized. But this judge, a judge that promised to lock up Trump, lumped it in with a so-called federal crime that the federal government itself never brought to bear. The federal government did not charge Trump on that. He lumped the two together, and this judge also gave instruction to jurors that they didn’t have to be unanimous on what the crime was. So long as there was unanimity that a crime was committed, jurors could choose from three options about what those crimes were. That is unprecedented.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Senator, Hunter Biden, the president’s son, was also found guilty in a case brought on by the president’s Justice Department.

 SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Well, first of all, I’d say it’s very sad and regrettable. I haven’t focused much on that case because nobody celebrates the suffering of one’s family member. As far as I know, that’s a very different case.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But is it evidence that justice works for both sides?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: I’d say that if the judge in the Hunter Biden case had made donations to Donald Trump, they would’ve been recused from the case. Second, the crime in that case is very clear. It’s unfortunate, and I don’t celebrate it because it affects a family member. I don’t agree with celebrating that sort of thing. It’s very sad. But I will say it was a pretty open-and-shut case. He lied on an application. In fact, the DA tried to reach a deal with him. It was the judge who didn’t accept it. But they tried to make a deal with him because he was using drugs when he tried to buy a firearm. That’s very different than what we’re talking about.

That does have precedent, though it is uncommon.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: It’s not common at all.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: But it went to trial because the judge rejected the deal the DA had made. On top of that, I’d say that’s very different from a case in New York with a legal hypothesis that has never in the history of this country been applied to anyone in any state or any jurisdiction. The two cases are totally different. On top of all that, this is a presidential candidate that was locked in a court for six weeks instead of out on the campaign trail. He had a gag order, while those testifying against him could say whatever they wanted. 

JULIO VAQUEIRO: I have two more questions for you. Why won’t you commit to accepting the 2024 presidential elections results?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: I respect election results. I’ve always respected them. Even my own. What I’ve always said is that if there’s a problem with that election, the loser will take it to court. Democrats have done it as well. In 2018, for example...

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But taking it to court is within the rules of the law.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: That’s correct.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But not accepting the results...

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: When the Democrats lose an election in Georgia or Florida, the first thing they claim is discrimination because a license is required, which to them is evidence of discrimination against African Americans and Hispanics, which is ridiculous. They’ve done it. It’s Democrats who refused to accept that Donald Trump was the legitimate president. They claimed in 2016 that he was installed by the Russians.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But Hillary Clinton attended Trump’s swearing in.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: But Hillary Clinton on several occasions was the first to say that the election was stolen from her. What I’d say is that if there are irregularities in that election... Let’s suppose that a state misapplies the law and allows people to vote that shouldn’t have been allowed, either because they voted late or filled out the form incorrectly or whatever. Democratic lawyers will fight it and Democratic politicians will question the result. The important thing is to have an election in which election laws are enforced properly. If election laws are applied properly, then whoever wins wins. But if not, like in 2020, when many states ignored their election laws, using COVID as an excuse...

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But over 50 judges dismissed Trump’s claims that there was systematic fraud.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: This isn’t about systematic fraud. It’s about a particular jurisdiction ignoring its laws. For example, massive voting by mail was allowed in certain states in which it wasn’t legal. They didn’t abide by the laws. They ignored them and they used COVID as an excuse, and that will always cast doubt on whether the law was applied fairly or not or gave one candidate an advantage over another.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Let me put it this way. Once these challenges have been hear and the courts have had their say, will you accept the results, regardless of who wins?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: If the different states follow their particular elections laws, the laws as they’re written, whoever wins wins. If they don’t follow the law, I will criticize that. And if there’s evidence that not following the law could have impacted the election, whoever loses, be they Democrat or Republican, will bring it to court and complain publicly. These things have to be discussed. We’ve dealt with it in Florida. In 2000, people were questioning the ballot and wondering what would be counted and what wouldn’t be. We had to clear up our election laws in Florida to prevent that from happening again. Many states have ignored their laws. If they ignore them again, we’ll criticize them again, and if the Democrats lose, they’ll be the ones questioning the results. Laws must be followed.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: What can we expect from the two upcoming debates?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Well, I don’t know what to expect, and that’s for two reasons. First, there’s not going to be an audience, which is very unusual. Even though the audience is instructed to remain quiet, they always make their presence felt. I’m not trying to make fun of him because this is a legitimate concern, but we’ve all seen with our own eyes that President Biden isn’t the same person he was four, eight years ago. We’ll see if he can endure a 90-minute debate.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Should there be more than two debates?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Well, it’s what been agreed to. I imagine Trump would do 10 debates if given the opportunity. I think it’s Biden that’s placing a limit on the number of debates. Furthermore, they wanted one before the convention, which is unusual, but Trump will be participating nonetheless.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Thank you, Senator. I appreciate it.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Thanks, I appreciate your time. Take care. Thanks. Likewise.

[Interview continues.]

JULIO VAQUEIRO: What do you think of a debate focusing on issues specific to Latinos, Senator?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Well, I don’t know about a debate on topics specific to Latinos.

I think that a debate on a network... Obviously, none of the three known candidates speak Spanish, so it wouldn’t be fair to ask for the debate to be conducted in Spanish. But they should get the answers so that people who get their information in Spanish can understand it. I’d have no problem with that. I don’t think there should ever be a debate focusing on one community or another. At the end of the day, I still think... There’s no mystery here. I’m Latino. My wife is a Latina of Colombian descent. I’m from Miami, where all my neighbors are Latinos. But I don’t think we should be a country with debates for specific groups because then every group will want its own debate, and how many debates can we have?

JULIO VAQUEIRO: But the Latino vote will be key in this election.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Yes, but all votes are key. I’m not saying it’s not important, but I think it’s an insult to think that the Latino community can’t watch a debate and not come away with what matters to their family. At the end of the day, their top concerns will be the economy, national security, inflation and cost of living. That applies to everybody, including Hispanics. Now, I have no problem if they’re asked within that debate something about Latin America, or if certain topics pertaining to us are discussed. It’s only logical for those questions to be asked, and they should ask because they have a direct impact on the immigration issue that we’re facing as well as the threat to our national security.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: Recently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection included the criminal organization Tren de Aragua in its list of gangs. You’ve commented on this subject. Is enough being done?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Well, more must be done. We need to find out more. But I’m glad that they’re at least recognizing the threat. The Venezuelan community has been warning me about this for a year-and-a-half. And I didn’t know because I had no way of proving it. But this is a group that escaped Venezuela and began committing crimes in Ecuador, in Peru and other countries, and now they’re here and we’re seeing it. I started hearing the warnings a year and a half ago. I tell people that these people are committing crimes not because they’re Venezuelan but because they’re gang members. They’re criminals. They were criminals in Venezuela and they are here too. One would think, to a certain extent, and I don’t have evidence of this, but you have to think, because there’s precedent, that what the Maduro regime is doing is causing an influx of gang members into this country to cause harm. His master, Fidel Castro, did the same thing during the Mariel Boatlift. But it is troubling, and it’s something we need to learn more about. If you’re going to take in nine or 10 million people, a certain percentage of them will always be criminals, unfortunately, and that includes Tren de Aragua.

JULIO VAQUEIRO: I appreciate it, Senator.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Thank you very much.

What We’re Reading Today

‘You Got It, Take It Away’ (RIP, Johnny Canales): On Thursday afternoon, I learned about the death of the “true television pioneer” Johnny Canales because the homie Fidel Martinez of the excellent Latinx Files newsletter tweeted about it and then, wrote one incredible tribute that you should read. (Story here.)

Happy weekend. We will be back on Monday.