Marco Rubio Talks About God, Religion in Iowa
Presidential candidate Marco Rubio, R-Fla., got religious in response to a question at an Iowa town hall appearance on Tuesday.
The Washington Post reports the Florida senator gave a long answer when asked if he would "follow God's word" in his decision-making.
Rubio spoke at length about his Christian beliefs, discussing Jesus and John the Baptist. He talked about his connection with God, and said he yearned to spend "eternity with my creator."
Eventually, Rubio answered the question directly, saying, "I try everyday in everything I do."
With the Iowa caucuses only days away, Rubio has heavily focused on appealing to Christian conservative voters in a state where about 57 percent of Republicans identified as evangelicals or born-again Christians in 2012.
According to recent NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls, Rubio sits firmly in third place coming into the Monday caucuses. Only 18 percent of likely GOP caucus-goers intend to vote for the Florida senator, whereas Republican rivals Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have 32 and 25 percent support respectively.
Cruz is besting Rubio in the Christian right demographic, as well. Front-runner Trump also likely gained traction with that base when he was endorsed by evangelical leader and Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr.
"I do think it's important for our president to be someone who is influenced by their faith, especially if it's Christianity, because it is a faith that teaches you to care for the less fortunate, to seek peace, to care for one another, even to love your enemy," said Rubio to reporters on Tuesday.
Rubio is a practicing Roman Catholic, although he attended the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Las Vegas as a child, and goes to Southern Baptist church with his wife. He says he wants to raise his children with Christian values, and not those taught by mass media.
"My wife Jeanette and I are raising four children right now, and we have to work harder than ever to ensure that our children grow up with the values they teach in our church instead of the values they are trying to ram down our throats in the popular culture," he said at a rally in Des Moines on Monday.
When faced with a question regarding religious freedom from an atheist voter in Iowa, Rubio responded that he felt everyone was free to believe what they wanted to believe, but "no one's going to force me to stop talking about God."
Watch video of the exchange below:
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