Marco Rubio reflects the crossroads of the Republican Party. After Donald Trump’s defeat, the Florida senator – and one of the former president’s main allies – attempts to recalibrate the acronym’s political focus and identity, with the intention of running for the White House in 2024.
In an exclusive interview with Folha, Rubio isn’t giving up his speech supporting Trump, who garnered 74 million votes last year and remains a frontrunner against Democrats, but makes a broader prognosis on what should look like the future of the legend.
Even with much of his radicalized base on the right, the senator says the party must be multiracial, multi-ethnic and win back the working class if it is to return to the US presidency.
“The future of the Republican Party is multiethnic, multiracial, a working class party. It is the party that works to make the American dream come true for all, whatever its history, its past, its origin.”
On Friday (12), Rubio publicly endorsed workers at Amazon’s public facility in Alabama, in support of efforts to organize employees at the e-commerce company.
He says the days when the Conservatives were “taken for granted alongside business are over” and that one of his earliest political memories is being picketed with his father.
In votes over the past few weeks, however, Rubio and the Republicans opposed the proposal to raise the minimum wage that was under discussion in Congress and tried to block approval of the $ 1.9 trillion economic relief plan. dollars, signed by President Joe Biden to help. Americans in the midst of a pandemic.
Like Trump, Rubio calls Biden’s agenda “far left,” says he will remain in vigorous opposition to the Democrat.
“We continue to look for areas to come together while standing up for those Americans who are fed up with the culture of cancellation and identity politics,” the senator said. “I will continue to condemn and resist any decision made by the Biden government that undermines the national security interests of our nation and our future.”
In 2016, Rubio ran for the Republican nomination for the White House, but lost his post to Trump. At 49, the senator dreams of the nomination again today, although he still does not admit it in public and avoids responding if his party needs new leadership.
For the past four years, Rubio has been a key ally of the Trump administration, especially when it comes to politics in Latin America.
Just over a year ago, the senator met with President Jair Bolsonaro in Miami, for about half an hour, when he said he discussed the crisis in Venezuela and expressed concern that tech company Huawei is doing business in Brazil.
Rubio claims that relations between the United States and Brazil “have grown a lot stronger” with Trump as the head of the White House and that Biden should “capitalize on the huge breakthrough” made by the Republican, by keeping the country as a commercial and security ally.
“Under Biden, I hope that US policy towards the Western Hemisphere remains a priority. The Biden administration must capitalize on President Trump’s huge leap forward. Brazil and the United States must remain strong security partners and also trade allies. “
Biden has previously signaled that he does not intend to treat Brazil with outgoing hostility, on the contrary, despite pressure from Democratic parliamentarians and activists calling on the United States not to expand trade deals with the United States. country, nor even to apply punitive measures against the Bolsonaro government, in turn, negligent posture with issues of the environment and human rights.
Rubio also says that the trade partnership is the way for countries to continue together in the fight against what he calls the “despotic drug trafficking regime” by Nicolás Maduro, in Venezuela, and in implementing measures against it. China, preventing, for example, Huawei from participating in the 5G auction in Brazil.
He admits that China has set foot in the Western Hemisphere and that today it is a threat – the same term used by Biden’s aides to describe Asian power.
“The United States and Brazil must remain vigilant and work together to continue to address the unprecedented threat posed by the security position that China has unfortunately developed in our region. […] Accepting Beijing’s promises to help with the technological infrastructure means handing over the keys to the inner workings of its national security for the indefinite future. These widespread tactics only seek to leave nations in debt to the Chinese Communist Party for decades. “
The anti-Beijing stance is one of the few that unites Democrats and Republicans in the United States, and during his first 50 days in office, Biden has already shown that he will maintain and even step up some of the tougher policies of the United States. administration against China.
Rubio continues to give his opinion on this and others on a daily basis on his social networks. He says he is focusing on his Senate re-election campaign – where he has been active since 2011 – but, until then, like most Republican leaders, he tries to modulate the rhetoric, in a meticulous calculation to measure how measures the influence and strength going to Trump on the party base.