Marco Rubio is reportedly “close” to endorsing former rival Ted Cruz for president. The speculation—by way of Politico’s unnamed sources—comes after Rubio praised his fellow senator as “the only conservative left in the race” during a call with supporters earlier this week. We’ll have to wait and see if the speculation proves true—similar rumors of high-profile endorsements have proved wrong in the past—though in the meantime it’s worth a quick trip down memory lane. Here are but two choice passages from Republican debates back before Rubio and Cruz entered into an informal tag-team alliance against Trump in more recent ones.
Cruz Is a Flip-Flopping Hypocrite
Rubio at the Fox Business debate on Jan. 14:*
Ted Cruz, you used to say you supported doubling the number of green cards; now you say you’re against it. You used to support a 500 percent increase in the number of guest workers; now you say that you’re against it. You used to support legalizing people that were here illegally; now you say you’re against it. You used to say that you were in favor of birthright citizenship; now you say that you are against it. … It’s not just on immigration. You used to support TPA; now you say you’re against it. I saw you on the Senate floor flip your vote on crop insurance because they told you it would help you in Iowa. And last week we all saw you flip … for the same reason. That is not consistent conservatism. That is political calculation.
When I am president, I will work consistently every single day to keep this country safe, not call Edward Snowden, as you did, a great public servant as you did. Edward Snowden is a traitor. And if … we get our hands on him, he is standing trial for treason. … Every single time that there has been a defense bill in the Senate, three people team up to vote against it: Bernie Sanders, Rand Paul, and Ted Cruz. In fact, the only budget you have ever voted for, Ted, in your entire time in the Senate is a budget from Rand Paul that … cuts defense.
Cruz Is a Lying Liar
Rubio at the CBS News debate on Feb. 13:
Look, this is a disturbing pattern now, because for a number of weeks now, Ted Cruz has just been telling lies. He lied about Ben Carson in Iowa. He lies about Planned Parenthood. He lies about marriage. He’s lying about all sorts of things. And now he makes things up. The bottom line is this is a campaign and people are watching it. And they see the truth behind all these issues.
In fairness to Marco, you can play this game with almost any failed candidate who goes on to endorse someone they had been running against. See: Christie, Chris, and Carson, Ben, for recent examples. Saying one thing about a rival and then saying something completely different when that person becomes a former rival is pretty much a time-honored tradition in presidential politics. (Also: This is Donald “Global Risk” Trump that Rubio’s trying to stop.) In reality, though, if Rubio opts not to endorse Cruz it will more likely be because he doesn’t think the Texan can actually defeat Trump, he doesn’t think it would actually help, and/or he’s afraid an endorsement would come back to hurt him if he finds himself running against Cruz again in 2020. I don’t know which of those three is the most depressing for the GOP establishment Rubio was supposed to save.
See more of Slate’s GOP primary coverage.
*Correction, March 18, 2016: An earlier version of this post misstated the date of the Fox Business debate. It was held on Jan. 14, not Jan. 15.
