Saturday's reporter scrum with Marco Rubio occurred in the football locker room of the Mount Paran Christian School Eagles, who went 10-2 last year. A great winning season.

Much of the Florida senator’s remarks were intended to get under the skin of Republican presidential rival Donald Trump. The phrase “con artist” littered Rubio’s locker room session.

But two representatives of the Washington Post double-teamed the senator on a more uncomfortable topic – like the fact that, unlike the Eagles, Rubio hasn’t posted a win yet this season, and isn’t likely to on Tuesday:

Rubio: Again, we're in the proportional part of the process. So as long as we're picking up delegates – here's the bottom line you need to begin to focus in on. It takes 1,237 delegates to be the nominee of the Republican party. Donald Trump will never have 1,237 delegates. It will not happen. And I will be in this race as long and as hard as I need to be….

First reporter: With all due respect, a lot of Republicans say you have to win at some point.

Rubio: Here's the bottom line. As the field continues to narrow down, you'll see more and more people rallying to our side. There's a growing consensus in this party that we cannot nominate a con artist to become head of the party of Lincoln and Reagan and of the conservative movement, an individual who has never voted in a Republican primary, who stands and agrees with Hillary Clinton on Planned Parenthood, on being neutral when it comes to Israel, uses as their talking points, if you don't support government-sponsored health care, you're in favor of letting people die in the streets.

This is a dream for the Democratic party, to have a Republican nominee like that. And you know the media – you guys are sharpening your knives. As soon as he's the nominee, they're going to descend on him like the hounds of hell. And they're going to tear him apart for all the horrible things he's done in his business career.

So we're not going to allow someone like that to be our nominee.

Second reporter: Senator, where are you going to win?

Rubio: We are going to win. We're going to win in Florida.

Second reporter: Are you going to win anything else on the 15th?

Rubio: We'll find out on the 15th. We feel very optimistic about the number of delegates we're going to win. Which is what this race is about. This is not a traditional race. Usually in a race like this, people are pushing and rallying and saying somebody needs to get out. So that somebody we really are inspired by can go ahead and wrap up the nomination.

That's not what's going to happen with Donald Trump. The majority of Republican voters do not want Donald Trump to be our nominee. And they are going to support whoever is left standing, that is fighting to ensure that we do not nominate a con artist… "

Second reporter: How important is it to you that Senator Cruz and Governor Kasich remain in the race indefinitely?

Rubio: They have a right to be in the race. They've worked just as hard as we have, and they're out there just as much as we are. I've never going to ask anybody to drop out of the race. They have a right to be in it as long as they want to be in it.

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President Donald Trump (right) and Vice President JD Vance sit in the Situation Room on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at the White House in Washington. (White House via AP)

Credit: AP