Sen. Marco Rubio's bid to hold onto the 172 delegates he amassed in 21 states and territories in a bid to influence the GOP presidential nomination process is a shrewd political move as well as "a little bit of skullduggery," leading presidential historian Craig Shirley tells
Newsmax TV.
"It's actually both. It keeps him relevant, it keeps him alive and it keeps him as a king maker and as a player," Shirley said Wednesday on "The Hard Line" with Ed Berliner.
"He'll certainly get a lot of national media attention and he'll get a platform to say what's on his mind as far as the party goes or the nominee of the party, or maybe [he'll] parlay it into a place on the ticket or a seat in the cabinet."
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Rubio aide Alex Burgos recently told MSNBC that while the Florida senator has dropped out of the race, he still "wants to give voters a chance to stop [Donald] Trump."
And his delegates could play an important part of tipping the scales if the Republican convention this summer turns into a contested competition.
While the delegates whose candidates have dropped out of the presidential race can appropriate their support to anybody, Rubio has been asking them to let him call the shots when the time comes.
"It's a smart move. Yes, there's a little bit of skullduggery," said Shirley, author of
"Last Act: The Final Years and Emerging Legacy of Ronald Reagan," published by Thomas Nelson.
"But you know, under the glare of national media now it's pretty difficult now to engage into real hanky-panky or high jinx or unethical behavior."
That's because everyone is "a walking television studio" in the age of social media, according to Shirley.
"Everybody has an iPhone or a Blackberry or some mobile device in which they can photograph, record, broadcast the happenings of everything that's happening in meetings, in subcommittee meetings and platform meetings, on the floor of the convention," he told Berliner.
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