Harris and Trump recently participated in a presidential debate hosted by ABC News, during which Trump pressed the vice president in his closing statement over why she would not make her campaign promises a reality while already in office. Rubio, who endorsed Trump in January, said the former president’s closing argument was “the most powerful moment” in the debate, as Harris owns everything the Biden administration has worked toward. 

“You’ve been in a position; you’re not some outsider running for office,” Rubio said of Harris on Fox News’s One Nation with Brian Kilmeade. “You’re as inside as it can be. Kamala Harris is as inside as you can get as vice president. Why haven’t you done these things already? And I think a lot of voters picked up on that. There’s a big difference between impressing the media class and the punditry and impressing voters. Two very different universes, and I think what’s going to decide the election is not the pundits, it’s the voters.”

Rubio also was very critical over ABC News’s handling of the debate, contending the two moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, mishandled their fact-checking, such as not correcting Harris when referencing the debunked Charlottesville report. Despite this, Rubio contended the debate helped Trump due to the network’s display of bias against the former president, reaffirming to the public how media outlets want Trump to lose.

The Florida senator also rebuked Harris and ABC News for its opening question, as the moderators asked her how she would fix the nation’s economy when they should have asked what she would do that is different from her leadership as vice president. Rubio’s criticism extended to Harris’s response to this question, as she delved into her biography of growing up in the middle class.

New polling on Sunday indicates the race is statistically unchanged compared to before the debate with Harris up 52%-46% among likely voters.

As of Thursday, Trump stated there would not be another debate between him and the vice president, claiming he won the debate and Harris wants a rematch after she lost.