Rubio: ‘The wrong people’ run America
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) argued Saturday that doubts about American exceptionalism stemmed from two terms of failed leadership from President Obama.
“The wrong people are running it,” Rubio said of concerns over the nation’s direction at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition summit in Waukee, Iowa.
“Too many people in charge have forgotten fundamental truths,” he argued.
{mosads}“Our nation is on the verge of another American century,” Rubio said. “It begins by turning the page on leaders trapped in yesterday.”
The 2016 presidential candidate vowed America was only one good leader away from restoring its glory.
“We have had bad presidents before and bad governments before,” Rubio admitted.
“I believe it is the promise of this generation to expand the message of America to reach more people than ever before.”
Rubio cited flaws in Obama’s economic and foreign policies as the cause of fears over dwindling U.S. influence. First and foremost, the Florida lawmaker argued, were outdated notions towards America’s jobs market.
“Adjusting to the 21st century means understanding that automation and technology have ultimately changed the nature of work,” he charged.
Rubio next criticized Obama’s actions on the world stage. The president’s chief misstep, he claimed, was his tentative pact with Iran on its nuclear energy program.
“We can’t be a strong country if we are ambivalent towards our allies and accommodating of our enemies,” he said.
“How can it be that our president shows more respect for the Ayatollah in Iran than our allies in Israel?” Rubio added of Obama’s interactions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.
“There has always been evil, but never in so many places and in so many ways,” he concluded of the global atmosphere.
Rubio said if elected president, he would guide America to new heights of prosperity. He felt indebted to the U.S., he added, given how it welcomed his immigrant parents with open arms.
“I have a debt to America I can never repay,” he said of how the U.S. accepted his Cuban mother and father.
“I want this to be a special nation,” Rubio said.
– Updated at 6:53 p.m.
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