Rubio: Campaign didn’t ‘mislead’ on fundraising figures

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) pushed back at accusations from the Jeb Bush camp that his campaign falsely claimed it had more money in the bank than Bush. 

“We didn’t mislead. The numbers are there and it showed what we raised,” he said Monday night on Fox News’s “The Kelly File” about his campaign finance reports released last week. 

“The numbers speak for themselves. They are publicly disclosed. People can look at it and draw their own conclusions. It doesn’t really matter.” 

The disagreement started after the Florida senator’s campaign sent out a glowing press release on the campaign finance disclosure deadline last week that began with a jab at Bush. 

{mosads}“Thanks to smart budgeting and fiscal discipline, Marco Rubio for President started October with more money in the bank than Jeb Bush for President and most other campaigns,” the release said, noting almost $11 million in cash on hand. 

Campaign officials also told donors earlier this month that the campaign raised about $6 million in the third fundraising quarter, which sparked a flurry of stories pegged to that figure.   

But when the physical reports were submitted, Bush’s campaign criticized Rubio for fudging the numbers. Rubio’s Federal Election Commission report also showed that he raised $5.7 million and about $1.2 million in funding he can only access if he wins the primary.

Without counting that chunk, Rubio ended the quarter with less cash on hand than Bush, but Bush’s campaign has about $400,000 in debt while Rubio’s camp has about $75,000. A number of Bush allies took to Twitter to barb the Rubio camp over the release.

Lying about budgets. Guess Marco picked up something in the Senate. https://t.co/mCSILB3VjK

— Tim Miller (@Timodc) October 16, 2015

The campaigns for the two Florida politicians continue to spar as their bosses battle for resources in the Sunshine State as well as for supremacy in what’s been dubbed as the “establishment” lane of the GOP presidential primary. Bush’s poll numbers have slid since he entered the race as the establishment favorite, while Rubio has seen a steady uptick over the past month.