Marco Rubio says results of a 'crooked' election should be 'contested' by both sides

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) battled it out with NBC News on Sunday after he was asked if he would accept the results of the 2024 Presidential Election no matter the outcome. Meet the Press' Kristen Welker was attempting to get Rubio to agree that he would accept the results of the coming presidential election no questions act, no matter the outcome or the process. The senator is rumored to be on former President Donald Trump's vice presidential shortlist.

Rubio declined, saying that he would not endorse the results of a crooked election and pointed out that many Democrats, including Trump's opponent Hillary Clinton, continued to say that the 2016 election was invalid and had been rigged long after the results were in declaring Trump the winner. Republicans, he noted, were not the only political party to question election outcomes—and in fact Democrats questioned the 2016 election with no consequences or pushback from media. Rubio pointed this out.

Welker asked Rubio, "Will you accept the election results of 2024, no matter what happens, senator?"

"No matter what happens? No!" asserted the senator. "If it's an unfair election, I think it's going to be contested by either side."

Welker interrupted, "Senator, no matter who wins?"

"I think you're asking the wrong person," Rubio responded. "The Democrats are the ones that have opposed every Republican victory since 2000. Every single one."

"No Democrat has refused to concede. Hillary Clinton conceded," Welker remarked, asking Rubio once if he would "accept the election results?"

Rubio fired back at the host saying, "Hillary Clinton said the election was stolen from her and that Trump was illegitimate. Kamala Harris agreed. There are Democrats serving in Congress today who in 2004 voted not to certify the Ohio electors because they said those machines had been tampered with. You have Democrats now saying they won't certify 2024 because Trump is an insurrectionist and ineligible to hold office. So you need to ask them. Have you ever asked a Democrat this question on your show? I bet you you've never asked a Democrat that question," said Rubio.

Rubio went on to criticize major media outlets, including NBC News, for their role in undermining elections by peddling propaganda and disinformation. "What undermines elections is when NBC News and every major news outlet in America in 2020 censored the Biden laptop story which turned out to be true, not Russian misinformation," said Rubio. "Only, you couldn't even talk about it on social media. They would de-platform you. People look at all this."

"But, I'm telling you," he continued, "that if it's unfair we are going to do the same thing Democrats do. We're going to use lawyers to go to court and point out the fact that states are not following their own election laws," said Rubio. "Hopefully, we'll have a fair election and it'll be unquestionable."

Rubio is among three other contenders rumored to be on Donald Trump's VP shortlist. The other's on the list include North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, North Carolina Senator Tim Scott, and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. Trump announced that he would select his running mate before the Republican National Convention in July.