After yesterday’s drama, Senator Marco Rubio has decided to appear at the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) after all. Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union (ACU), confirmed the news on Twitter this afternoon:
CONFIRMED: Grassroots activists will hear from @marcorubio at #CPAC next week — be part of history! #tcot pic.twitter.com/l2opz7k5Pq
— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) February 24, 2016
The ACU released the following statement on the turnaround:
ACU and Sen. Rubio were able to work out a date for him to appear on the CPAC stage on Saturday, March 5th, 2016 at 11:35am (ET). Sen. Rubio has an ACU Lifetime Rating of 98% and is admired by conservative grassroots activists, many of whom came together to support his election to the U.S. Senate in 2010 and continue to support him today. The thousands of conservatives who come to CPAC this year will be eager to hear Sen. Rubio’s message on how best to restore our freedoms after seven years of President Obama’s attempts to “fundamentally transform” America.
“Sen. Marco Rubio has a strong conservative record and I’m honored to call him my friend,” said ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp. “We are grateful that the conservative grassroots activists at CPAC will have the opportunity hear Sen. Rubio’s message at this important moment in history.”
Yesterday, the ACU sent out a mass email chiding the presidential candidate for supposedly deciding to skip the conference, calling it a “rookie mistake,” but the Rubio campaign disputed that, saying they had only been unable to commit to a specific time; CPAC 2016 takes place March 2-5 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
