Marco Rubio: Jeb Bush won't affect my 2016 decision to run for president

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Marco Rubio: Jeb Bush won't affect 2016 decision

Senator Rubio says his decision to run for president won't be affected by Jeb Bush's decision.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) has not decided yet if he will run for president in 2016. And he insists that whatever decision his friend, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, makes about the 2016 ticket would not impact his own decision.

“I don’t think Jeb Bush, or anyone else for that matter, would make up their minds based on who else is running, and I wouldn’t either,” Rubio said on Fox & Friends on Friday when asked about whether his close relationship with the former president's brother would keep him from running for the nation's highest political office.

In an interview earlier this week on Fox & Friends, President George W. Bush said that his brother Jeb is seriously considering running in 2016 and is weighing his options, “Yeah, I think he wants to be president,” Bush said.

Rubio was pressed by Fox & Friends host Brian Kilemeade on whether he would decide not to run against Jeb Bush, who he considers a mentor, much like Mitt Romney’s former running mate Rep. Paul Ryan said he won’t run if Romney does run for president. According to published reports, Romney has said he would not be a candidate if Bush runs for president.

But Rubio insists he’s not calculating his decision that way.

“I have a lot of respect for Governor Bush,” Rubio said.  “We have a long term relationship. We’re friends. We never actually talked about this topic. We talk about education and all sorts of other reforms but the bottom line is whatever decision I make would be based on me and not on whoever else is running. But certainly he would be a very formidable candidate.”

Rubio said he’s basing his decision on where he believes he can best further the right agenda for the nation and is undecided if that’s in the senate or in the White House.

“I’d imagine [Jeb Bush] is going through the same exact process right now,” Rubio said. “For me, the decision’s never been about the title.”

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