The impact of Donald Trump’s ‘Access Hollywood’controversy is trickling down into a tight senate race in Florida.
Last week, Senator Marco Rubio tweeted out his disapproval of Trump's comments.
Donald's comments were vulgar, egregious & impossible to justify.
No one should ever talk about any woman in those terms, even in private.— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) October 8, 2016
However, Rubio's opponent Patrick Murphy wants the senator to take things one step further - saying Rubio should withdraw his endorsement .
“He’s trying to become the leader of the free world despite these comments, and Marco Rubio is standing by his side, and the voters need to know that, and need to him accountable,” Murphy told NewsChannel 5 Monday.
We reached out to Rubio's office to see if he had any plans on doing so, but neither Rubio nor anyone from his campaign responded.
NewsChannel 5 Political Analyst and Crowley Political Report Editor Brian Crowley thinks Rubio taking back his endorsement could hurt.
“It's a bit of a risk for him - there are a lot of Florida voters, Republicans especially, who are very devoted to Donald Trump,” he says.
Crowley says furthermore, Trump's comments could make Republicans and Independent voters that the party is counting on sit out the election all together - and that could provide an opening for Murphy.
A recent NBC News poll showed Rubio leading by two points.
Crowley says Democratic leaders pulled back on financial support for Murphy last month, but that could change.
“It'll be very interesting to see if the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee comes back into Florida and spends millions of dollars to help push Patrick Murphy over the line,” he says.
Crowley's provided this recommendation for Rubio's political future:
“I think Marco Rubio could show a lot of leadership and statesmanship in dealing with Donald Trump. I think it's time for him to drop that endorsement. I think it would help him in this election.”
