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White House needles Rubio over Senate record

by Jesse Byrnes - 01/08/16 2:57 PM ET

White House press secretary Josh Earnest poked at Marco Rubio on Friday over the Florida senator’s attendance record in the Senate, which his GOP rivals have hit on for months during his presidential campaign.

{mosads}”My guess is he gets most of his information about what’s happening in Congress in the newspaper, based on his attendance record,” Earnest quipped during the daily briefing.

Earnest was asked about a letter that Rubio sent to the State Department on Friday inquiring about a missing U.S. Hellfire missile that The Wall Street Journal reported had shown up in Cuba.

Rubio wrote in his letter that it was “astounding and inexcusable” that members of Congress were learning about the lost missile from newspapers instead of U.S. officials.

An aide for Rubio’s campaign noted on Twitter that Earnest did not have an answer to the reporter’s question about a U.S. missile ending up in Cuba.

The quip on Friday came after the White House spokesman twice this week went after another Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), a top rival to Rubio.

Earnest chided Cruz for an “irresponsible” ad Thursday declaring President Obama “wants your guns,” a day after teasing the Canadian-born senator about the debate over his U.S. citizenship and eligibility for the presidency.

The White House has also repeatedly criticized Republican front-runner Donald Trump, including his controversial proposal last month to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

Tags 2016 GOP primary Josh Earnest Marco Rubio