Sen. Marco Rubio put on defensive over guns and abortion rights in Florida debate

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was put on the defensive over his stance on guns and abortion rights in a fiery debate with challenger Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.)

The front-running former GOP presidential candidate struggled to explain his flip-flop on raising to 21 the minimum age to buy deadly assault weapons and his opposition to abortion without any exceptions like for rape or incest.

“How long will you watch people being gunned down in first grade, fourth grade, high school, college, church, synagogue, a grocery store, a movie theater, a mall and a nightclub — and do nothing?” Demings asked Rubio.

The two-term incumbent senator, who has held a steady lead over Demings in polls, backed the modest proposal after the 2018 rampage at a Parkland, Florida high school.

He now says such rules “don’t work” and that would-be killer will find a way to evade age restrictions.

“I think the solution … is to identify these people that are acting this way,” Rubio countered, adding that the Second Amendment bars laws like the age requirement.

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Demings came out firing in the clash, saying Rubio has never “run anything other than his mouth.”

Rubio mostly maintained his composure, leading most insiders to say he avoided changing the dynamic of the race, which most pundits say is likely to go to the GOP.

Demings hit Rubio hard on abortion rights, noting that the Republican supports banning abortion even in cases of rape or incest.

Rubio conceded he backs a “100% pro-life” stance but added that he has voted for restrictive anti-abortion that included the exceptions that the vast majority of American voters support.

Rubio once cultivated an image as a relative moderate who occasionally bucked his party’s lurch to the far right on issues like immigration and former President Trump’s effort to overturn his 2020 election loss.

But with MAGA Republicans firmly in charge in Florida, Rubio has recently sought to mend fences with Trump and the most conservative elements in the GOP.