DALLAS — Secretary of State Marco Rubio, one of President Donald Trump’s top deputies, isn’t in Dallas this week during the Republicans‘ high-stakes midterm convention.
But Rubio’s absence isn’t leaving him with a blemish on his image. Attendees and Republican candidates told the Washington Examiner that while they would have loved to see the former Florida senator, they understand he is busy.
Former mayor of Boca Raton, Scott Singer, who is running to oust Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), said he wasn’t “disappointed at all” Rubio could not attend the convention, because the former Florida senator is “delivering results for Florida and for the entire nation.”
Florida delegate and chairman of Okaloosa County GOP Doug Stauffer, 67, told the Washington Examiner the delegation would have loved to see Rubio at the convention.
“Yeah, we were talking about that today,” Stauffer said. “We’d love to have had him here. We wanted to see another meme of him.”
“Maybe they’ll just do another meme of him having been here when he wasn’t,” the delegate quipped, referring to internet posts about Rubio’s multiple roles in the administration.
Conswello Davis, 55, of Tennessee, waived off Rubio’s absence as well, saying he’s “doing a lot of business, so you know his travels and things may take him out of — And this was planned at the last minute.”
Rubio’s absence from the convention was expected, and partly institutional. A spokesperson for the State Department previously said in a statement that it is a “long-standing” department policy to “prohibit Senate-confirmed Presidential appointees from attending partisan conventions.”
“This is to avoid any appearance of partisanship in the conduct of foreign relations and in recognition of the need for the U.S. Government to speak with one voice on foreign policy matters,” the spokesperson said.
The absences comes as speculation has mounted that Rubio could be a 2028 contender. Stauffer, the Florida delegate, said he considered Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to be the top 2028 contenders.
“I think any of those three would make an excellent continuation of the Trump policies,” Stauffer said.
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But while some may consider him a front-runner, the secretary of state himself recently told a Colombian news station that he has “no plans at this time” to launch a bid.
“I’m not a candidate for anything right now,” Rubio told the outlet. “And I’m 100% focused on my job, and I have to be because I have two jobs.”