Florida’s Junior Senator is just days away from a potential reelection that would send him toward the White House in four or eight years. Rubio has tried to portray himself as some sort of elder statesman, mature and thoughtful in this race. However when he was seeking the GOP nomination for President

But does Marco Rubio respect the institution of the Presidency itself? Given the statements he’s made about the current occupant of the White House you’d wonder. It’s also quite odd that the statements Rubio has made if they had been delivered by let’s say Donald Trump or Mike Pence would have created a furor among the media. But even as Florida’s newspaper editorial boards rally behind Rubio’s Democratic opponent Congressman Patrick Murphy, little has been said of the most bombastic and irresponsible statements made by Florida’s Junior Senator in recent years.

Here is a sampling.

“We already have a president now that has no class. We have a president now that does selfie-stick videos, that invites YouTube stars there, people that eat cereal out of a bathtub.” “It’s important to have a presidency that restores dignity and class to the White House.”

Rubio unlike President Obama who he claims has “no class” has made his living as a politician by taking pot-shots at others in office and pushing a strict ideological agenda. That agenda has led Rubio to essentially claim President Obama has committed treason against this country by making the following statement in New Hampshire just over two weeks ago:

“It’s now abundantly clear: Barack Obama has deliberately weakened America”

When Obama’s policy directives clashed with Rubio’s neoconservative instincts and his lack of interest in Florida issues, our state’s Junior Senator accused the President of not following the law:

                            “In fact, I think they’re (Obama’s Cuba initiatives) in violation of the law,” Rubio said . “The statute passed by Congress specifically prohibits many of the things he [Obama]’s now undertaking. It says those things can only happen after certain conditions have been met, none of which have been met. As president, I will follow the law.”

Here Rubio implies to Face the Nation that President Obama has failed to keep the nation safe:

                          “I’m a strong supporter of the second amendment. I have a right to protect my family if someone were to come after us,” Rubio said on Face the Nation. “In fact, if ISIS were to visit us, or our communities, at any moment, the last line of defense between ISIS and my family is the ability that I have to protect my family from them, or from a criminal, or anyone else who seeks to do us harm. Millions of Americans feel that way.”

This came weeks after Rubio indicated that he believed President Obama would confiscate all legal firearms in the United States if he could (A claim often made by crazed right-wingers):

“I am convinced if this president could confiscate every gun, he would,” Rubio told the cheering audience. “I am convinced if he could get rid of the 2nd Amendment, he would.”

Marco Rubio wants to be President and many in the GOP back him in this pursuit. But if he cannot articulate himself responsibly and rhetorically attacks a President with bombastic commentary how can he be trusted in that office? Floridians have a chance to ensure he never gets to that office by defeating Rubio in his quest for Senate reelection next week.