Controversial senator endorses Rubio at Tampa rally

The South Carolina senator who once said gay people and unwed mothers should not be allowed to teach in schools has endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio.

During a March 13 trip to Tampa, Sen. Jim DeMint, a hard-line conservative, told a crowd of 350 Republicans that “Americans are standing up to take their country back.”

According to an interview with the Tampa Tribune, DeMint favors some stances on issues that might not be popular with Florida voters, including a flat income tax, private accounts for Social Security and a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion.

DeMint said he opposes abortion in all cases except when the mother’s life is in danger.

“I’d rather have 30 Marco Rubios than 60 Arlen Specters,” DeMint told the crowd March 13. “If I could just have one or two people like [Rubio] in the Senate, we could take back our country.”

He said Rubio’s candidacy is “an opportunity ... to demonstrate to the Republican Party and the country that a ... common-sense conservative can win.”