Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio on Sunday dismissed a potential independent bid for the White House by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, calling him "just a private citizen who owns a big company." Appearing on Fox News Sunday, and asked about the potential impact of a Bloomberg presence on the 2016 race, Rubio responded that he has little concern about the billionaire businessman's rumored run.
"I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about Mayor Bloomberg, or what he might or might not do," said the Florida senator, according to The Hill. "I've met him a couple times, don't know him well, don't agree with his stance on the Second Amendment and some other issues."
Rubio added that there was little sense in making comparisons, given that it's not clear Bloomberg will even throw his hat in the ring.
"I'll wait until he becomes a candidate – and if he becomes a candidate – then we'll have a conversation about our differences," Rubio said, Politico reported. "If he's just someone out there talking about running for president," Rubio added, "well, there's a lot of people that have done that. And now he's just a private citizen who owns a big company."
Rubio's comments come just after he was endorsed Saturday night by the Des Moines Register in the Republican field ahead of the early voting state's caucuses on Feb. 1. He sits in third place in Iowa polls behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz with 12.2 percent, according to averages of recent polling compiled by RealClear Politics.
Other Republican candidates have also weighed-in on a possible Bloomberg third party run. "Look, he's a good man," Jeb Bush told ABC's This Week on Sunday, according to The Hill, adding, "He was a great mayor. He's much more liberal than I am, but he's a good person." Republican front-runner Donald Trump earlier this week told The New York Times, "I would love to see Michael run – I would love the competition."
