Rubio slams Trump over Russia

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) says Donald Trump’s plan to curtail Vladimir Putin’s military aggression is to appease the Russian president.

“It sounds like he thinks if we just have someone who gets along with Putin personally, things are going to work out better,” Rubio said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “It sounds a lot like the reset with Russia that the president tried to do. I guess he’s advocating for a reset with Putin.”

Trump made the comment at the second GOP primary debate on Wednesday that he would “get along with Putin.”

The businessman defended his comment earlier on the program on Sunday.

“You know, I gave an answer that I thought was very good at the debate the other night, and a lot of people loved that answer, they agreed with that answer, and that’s that you get along with people,” Trump said.

The GOP front-runner said President Obama has “absolutely no relationship” with Putin.

Rubio said Russian aggression has been in response to the instability in the Middle East created by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“If I were president, we would fill that vacuum,” he said. “And I am comforted that if given a choice between American leadership and Putin leadership, the region will choose American leadership.”

The GOP primary candidate also said he is “tired” of talking about unimportant issues, such as whether Obama is an American citizen.

“Yes, this is — of course — he’s born in the United States,” Rubio said. “He’s a Christian. He’s the president of the United States for the next year and a half, and we’re going to move on. This country is going to turn the page and this election needs to be about what comes next.”

Trump, who was a catalyst behind the “birther” movement, refused to say when repeatedly asked on Sunday whether the president was born in the United States.

“George, you have raised the question, I haven’t raised the question, I don’t talk about it,” Trump told host George Stephanopoulos.