The Iran nuclear agreement is not a done deal, Sen. Marco Rubio said Friday, vowing that Republicans will continue to bring up the issues and "do everything we can to derail it."
"If you ever fall on the sword over an issue, something that threatens security of the United States and the future of the world, I think that merits that attention," the Florida Republican and presidential candidate told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" co-host Martha MacCallum.
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On Thursday,
Democrats blocked a Republican-backed effort to kill the nuclear deal, with 40 Democrats and two independents voting to block a resolution disapproving of the pact in the 100-member chamber, one more than the minimum needed to keep it from advancing.
Rubio said Friday that he believes lawmakers who have been in Washington for too long become "insulated" from life around the country. Further, he said he chose to seek the presidency rather than re-election for the Senate because he does not think the political establishment in both parties has ever been "more out of touch with the lives of everyday people than today."
Democrats blocking the vote on the deal is a "perfect example" of that trend, he said.
"Rally around the president," the senator said. "Defend his legacy issue. Who cares about the defense implications for our country?"
But his ire wasn't just for Democrats, but for senators from his own party.
"Some in the Republican leadership are treating this like any other bill," he said. "This is not any other bill ... this is not fight over funding a railroad track somewhere or opening up a post office. This is an issue about radical lunatics possessing a nuclear weapon, and we'll do everything we can in order to stop it."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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