Marco Rubio thinks Donald Trump is a “con artist” and many other vile things, and Ted Cruz thinks Trump “has a tenuous relationship with the truth” and so on … but Trump is a con artist and a man with a tenuous relationship with the truth who Rubio and Cruz will totally support if he’s the Republican presidential nominee. In the mean time, though, they’ll make some laughable arguments about why Trump shouldn’t be the nominee:
"Sixty-five percent of Republican voters do not want him to be our nominee, he can never unite our party, it really puts us in a tough position," Rubio continued. "And that's why I'm asking everyone to unite around our campaign."
“I don’t want us to have a nominee that people have to settle for," Rubio said on NBC's “Today” show.
Let’s break that one down: A majority of Republican voters have voted against Trump, therefore they’d have to settle for him as the nominee, which would be bad. The answer to that dilemma is for Marco Rubio, who a much larger majority of Republican voters have voted against, to be the nominee.
While Thursday’s debate featured Trump’s presidential primary opponents saying yes, they’d support him if nominated, other top Republicans aren’t being so clear. A handful say outright they won’t vote for Trump no matter what. But more are like Sen. John McCain, who has criticized Trump harshly but also said he’d support the Republican nominee even if it was Trump. Or are like Sen. Cory Gardner, a Rubio supporter who repeatedly dodged the question Thursday night, saying, “I think to support anyone other than Marco Rubio is being defeatist” and “I’m not going to engage in hypotheticals” and “I don’t think Donald Trump is going to be our nominee.” (Some leader Rubio is—his high-profile endorsers won’t even follow him on supporting the Republican nominee.)
Of course, Rubio probably said he’d support Trump in part out of refusal to believe Trump can be the nominee. Rubio continues to look for either GOP establishment ex machina to swoop in and save him or for a brokered convention to do the same (while perhaps destroying the Republican Party). But Rubio and Cruz both have to explain how Trump can simultaneously be someone they describe as they do and someone they would support as president of the United States of America. There’s an integrity and moral courage question here, and so far, Rubio and Cruz are failing it.