It’s a comfortable juxtaposition for Rubio, who’s lived many political lives. He’s still one of the most open Republicans about potentially seeking the White House, saying, “it’d be silly for me to say I’m not ever interested again.”…

He did vote to certify the 2020 election against Trump’s wishes, though Trump nonetheless quickly endorsed Rubio’s reelection bid. Rubio doesn’t emphasize his relationship with Trump: “I’m busy here at work; he’s doing what he’s doing. But if there’s some reason to talk, we will.”

Rubio says his and Trump’s visions aren’t that different even as their approaches diverge. He won’t say if he wants Trump to run again, but predicts that if Trump does, the former president would win the nomination and probably beat President Joe Biden.

“Who I am is much more about: These are some changes we need to make. And if we do that, America is going to be a place you should be very optimistic about,” Rubio said. “His approach, which was more effective electorally, was to say: These are the things that are going wrong in our country, because we have a bunch of dumb leaders in Washington.”