WASHINGTON — Senator Marco Rubio is speaking out on some of the biggest issues in Florida, including the coronavirus pandemic. 

Florida’s senior senator sat down with reporter Samantha-Jo Roth for a wide-ranging interview. 

TRANSCRIPT:

Samantha-Jo Roth: “How is the vaccine distribution going across the state of Florida? Do you agree with the way [Governor] DeSantis has rolled out the situation, and could it be better?”

Sen. Marco Rubio: “Of course it could always be better. I think the governor has been right to prioritize senior citizens and people working in senior centers. I think there are a few things I’m concerned about. One is supply. I want to make sure there is sufficient supply. The other is reluctance. There’s still a lot of people that will not take the vaccine. 

"There’s good news. We’ve seen a 40% reduction in new cases in the U.S. over the last seven to 10 days. So, that means if it’s right and our numbers are right, we should see a slow down. But, if this new variant comes over, obviously that is going to pose an additional challenge. So, getting more people vaccinated is important. I think our job here is to continue to push for Florida to get it’s fair share.”

Samantha-Jo Roth: "Gov. DeSantis recently introduced a proposal to punish social media companies for suspending any state politician's accounts. I’m wondering if you have any response with that or if you agree with it?”

Sen. Marco Rubio: “I haven’t seen the bill, but I think what he’s touching on is if I’m running for office, if someone else is running for office and something damaging to me is somehow suppressed by a media company, that’s a tremendous help to my campaign. So, what the state is saying is, if you’re going to be doing that to help a candidate, we are going to treat it as an in-kind campaign contribution and you’re going to be fined for it. I think it’s a novel approach."

Samantha-Jo Roth: “I know it’s a big weekend for Tampa Bay. Super Bowl is coming up. What advice do you have to your constituents who may want to gather and let their guard down and celebrate?"

Sen. Marco Rubio: “Look, people are going to get together. I think there are ways to do it in Florida. We are blessed to have good weather, where people can do it outdoors, there are safe ways to do it. You can’t ask people for 12 months to not be around other people and be locked at home all day, it’s not a realistic request. What we can ask people to do is if they are going to gather, gather in the safest possible way. The virus is still there and it’s still dangerous and we need to treat it as such.”

Next week, Samantha-Jo will share more of her interview with Sen. Rubio, including his thoughts on impeachment and his new role in the Senate minority.