Rubio seeks to rebut skeptics on the experience factor

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Saturday took aim at those skeptical of his qualifications to lead the White House.

At the inaugural “Roast and Ride” hosted by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) in Boone, Iowa, the GOP presidential candidate defended his experience and his ideas.

“I’ve had some people say i’m not old enough or I haven’t been in government long enough, and I heard that, too, when I was speaker of the Florida House, but let me tell you what we did,” Rubio said.

{mosads}As speaker, Rubio said the Florida legislature balanced the third largest state budget without raising taxes and increased school standards without Common Core.

“I’m 44 years old, but I feel 45. And I’ve been in government long enough to know that what we’re doing now doesn’t work anymore,” he said.

The latest criticism Rubio received, he said, is that he’s “not rich enough.” He then used the statement to jab at Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Clinton foundation.

“It’s true I don’t make $11 million a year giving speeches to special interests. And I don’t have a family foundation that’s raised $2 billion, a lot of it from foreign interests,” he said. “But my wife and I work to ensure that we have enough money to send our kids to have a Christian education at a private school and we have a mortgage we pay every month.”

“We have all of these leaders, especially on the left, that are stuck in the past,” he said.

Rubio’s campaign theme focuses on a “New American Century” because he says the economy and world have changed too much to keep using ideas from the 20th century.