The comments, which came at Rubio’s last public event on a two-day swing through Nevada, were seen by some as an effort to draw an implicit contrast with Jeb Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton, early Republican and Democratic front-runners for president.

“Unfortunately, there are still people in American politics that do not want to pass the torch on to a new generation of leadership,” said Rubio.

Emphasizing his campaign theme of a “New American Century,” Rubio, who turned 44 on Thursday — he joked to one attendee that he feels 45 — warned of the perils of installing familiar faces into office.

“They say to me that I’m too young, that I haven’t been in government long enough,” he said, adding later: “If we keep electing the same people, the future’s going to leave us behind,” he said.