TAMPA Vice Presidential hopeful Mike Pence and Sen. Marco Rubio spoke at a Republican fundraiser in Tampa Oct. 15 spending most of the time attacking Hillary Clinton.
Rubio, like many in the party, appears to be trying to distance himself since the infamous Access Hollywood tape that was leaked where Trump spoke about sexually assaulting women.
Rubio has not gone as far as to retract his endorsement of Trump as many in the party have done, but spoke for 34 minutes at the event without even once saying Trump’s name, focusing instead on the importance of his Senate race.
“The next president and the next U.S. Senate will probably nominate and confirm up to three Supreme Court justices,” Rubio said in his speech to the 650 Republican voters attending the dinner.
Rubio, along with Pence, expressed the importance of electing a Republican president and keeping a Republican-led Senate in order to ensure they get a Supreme Court that will reverse Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark 2015 case that gave same-sex couples the right to marry in the U.S., and Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion.
“This is a choice of whether we’re going to continue to go downhill with the policies that have weakened America’s place in the world, stifled America’s economy, walked away from our most cherished traditions and our highest ideals in public life,” Pence said.
As governor of Indiana, Pence signed a religious freedom law that would have allowed any business to deny services to any person based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. He has also expressed support for conversion therapy and stated that, if elected, he and Trump would reverse Obama’s executive order outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity among federal contractors.
“No one should fear persecution because of their deeply held religious beliefs,” Pence said on a conservative radio show Oct. 5. “I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order. The Trump/Pence administration will be dedicated to preserving the liberties of our people, including the freedom of religion that’s enshrined in our Bill of Rights.”
