The Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel editorial board is calling on its Sen. Marco Rubio to resign in the wake of his poor attendance record in Congress and admitted frustration over the job.
In a scathing editorial published Tuesday night, the newspaper accused the Republican of putting his Senate job on the back burner as he traverses the country raising money and attention for his presidential campaign.
“By choosing to stay in the Senate and get the publicity, perks and pay that go with the position—without doing the work—you are taking advantage of us,” wrote the newspaper, which covers the southern part of the state.
Rubio has missed approximately one-third of Senate votes this year, actions he defended to CNN on Sunday. “Everyone needs to run their own campaign. I’m not missing votes because I’m on vacation,” the lawmaker said.
But the editorial board isn’t buying it, pointing out that his fellow 2016 candidates, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, have missed a reported 10 votes compared to Rubio’s 59.
The piece also references one of Rubio’s longtime friends telling the Washington Post that the legislator “hates” his job. The senator has since said “hate” may be too strong of a word. “If you hate your job, senator, follow the honorable lead of House Speaker John Boehner and resign it,” said the newspaper. It also said Rubio was being hypocritical for recently arguing on the Senate floor that federal workers who don’t do their jobs should be fired. “With the exception of your job, right?” the paper sarcastically wrote.
Team Rubio did not respond to a request for comment about the editorial.
Meanwhile, Rubio is slowly beginning to pick up momentum for his White House bid. According to a Real Clear Politics average of national polling data surrounding the GOP presidential nomination, Rubio is in third place with 9% support. Billionaire business mogul Donald Trump is in first place with 26.8% followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson’s 22%.
