Story highlights
- Marco Rubio says he doesn't like missing Senate votes
- The Florida senator also defended his constituent services work
Washington (CNN)Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Thursday he hates missing votes, defending his at-times absentee status that has made him a recent target in the GOP presidential race.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio speaks in October 2013 at the Values Voter Summit, held by the Family Research Council in Washington.
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Sen. Mike Lee, left, and Rubio talk before a news conference to introduce their proposal for an overhaul of the tax code in March.
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Rubio, center, arrives in the House chamber ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in March.
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Rubio speaks with the media after delivering remarks during the graduation of small business owners from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program held in Miami in February.
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Rubio talks to aides in December before speaking on President Barack Obama's announcement about revising policies on U.S.-Cuba relations.
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Rubio, left, talks to Sen. Lindsey Graham prior to a news conference on Capitol Hill in July.
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Rubio talks to reporters in June after a closed door briefing on Capitol Hill.
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Rubio speaks to the media in front of a wall dedicated to the victims of the violence in Venezuela as he shows support for the Venezuelan community at a restaurant in Doral, Florida, in April 2014.
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Rubio speaks to the media at the Doral restaurant in April 2014.
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Rubio checks his phone in March as he arrives for a Capitol Hill news conference to introduce a proposal for an overhaul of the tax code.
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Rubio, left, is greeted as he arrives at a restaurant in Doral in February 2014.
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Rubio, left, and Florida Gov. Rick Scott speak to the media in Doral in February 2014.
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From left, Sens. Cory Booker, Rubio, Kristen Gillibrand and John McCain wait for Obama to deliver the State of the Union address in January 2014.
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Rubio addresses an event held by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in January 2014.
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Paralympian Brad Snyder poses with Rubio during a Team USA Congressional visit in November 2013.
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Rubio speaks in November 2013 during a campaign stop for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia.
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Rubio confers with McCain as U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in October 2013.
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Rubio, center, speaks to members of the media as Sen. Ron Johnson, left, and Rep. Ron DeSantis listen during a news conference on Capitol Hill in October 2013.
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Rubio returns to the Capitol after meeting with Obama and other Republican leaders about the government shutdown in October 2013.
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Rubio speaks to an aide on Capitol Hill as he arrives for the weekly Senate Republican Policy Committee luncheon in September 2013.
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"As far as votes, I don't like missing votes, I hate it," he told CNN's Chris Cuomo on "New Day." "We do our best effort to make it -- we've canceled campaign events, especially for important votes, and we will definitely be there for any vote in which our vote would be decisive on making a difference on the outcome."
Rubio has missed 34% of his votes in the Senate so far this year, according to GovTrack.
But the Florida senator said worse than his attendance record is the thought of a Hillary Clinton presidency.
"Here's what I would hate more, and that is to wake up on the first Wednesday of November in 2016 to the news that Hillary Clinton has been elected president of the United States," Rubio said.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tried to score points in Wednesday night's GOP debate by knocking Rubio on his record for missing Senate votes. Rubio offered a strong defense on stage that he continued on Thursday.
Rubio and Bush go head-to-head 01:26
Rubio said he is present when it comes to helping the people of the Florida directly.
"The vast majority of work that happens in any Senate office is direct constituent services," he said. "And we're going to continue to provide that service. It's the thing I'm most of, we're most proud about."
But Rubio's absence is a significant problem, Tim Miller, Bush's communications director, told CNN's Alisyn Camerota on "New Day" on Thursday.
"In the broader debate over who do voters trust to do the job, Marco's been in the Senate for six years and he hasn't done anything," he said. "He didn't show up to votes not just since he started to run for president, but long before. As soon as he got there, he had the worst voter record in the Senate."
