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Marco Rubio did say, however, that “it’s valid to argue to delegates: ‘look, let’s not divide the party. | AP Photo Rubio: Trump’s wrong, the primary isn’t rigged

Marco Rubio defended the Republican Party’s convention system Wednesday, rejecting Donald Trump’s claims that GOP politics are “rigged” and adding that delegates would have the right to choose a nominee by picking “a bunch of names in a hat.”

“This is the way the way the system has been for a long time in both parties. If a primary and caucuses do not decide the nominee, it then goes to the convention,” the senator told South Florida First News’ Jimmy Cefalo on Miami’s WIOD-610am. "The Republican Party, the Democrat Party, they are private organizations. There’s basically no invalid way of choosing your nominee. They can — I’m not advocating this obviously — but you can just put a bunch of names in a hat and pull a name out and say: ‘This is our nominee.’ It’s a private organization. They have a system. And everybody knew that going in.”

Rubio called the process a “civics education for Americans” and later emphasized that “the delegates are going to choose the candidate.”

Ultimately, Rubio said, he would back Trump if he became the GOP nominee. But, when asked if rivals Ted Cruz or John Kasich should drop out of the race to unite the party, Rubio pointedly refused to say they should.

“As a candidate, I never asked anyone to drop out. And I’m not going to do it now. I think people need to run until they feel they’ve run their course,” Rubio said. “I can tell you my decision was based on the fact that I didn’t see a path forward that wasn’t divisive for the party.”

Rubio, who is still mulling whether and when to endorse Cruz, didn’t say how the roughly 170 delegates he won should vote at the convention. He didn’t say that Trump should definitely be the nominee if the frontrunner falls short of the 1,237 delegates needed.

“Ultimately, if the ballots go on long enough, almost every delegate will be unbound,” Rubio said. “I think the argument that Trump is making is this game – just like the economy, he’s saying, the politics is ‘rigged.’ Well, I wouldn’t call it rigged. These are the rules. He knew the rules, or should have, going in.”

Rubio did say, however, that “it’s valid to argue to delegates: ‘look, let’s not divide the party. You have someone here who has all these votes, very close to get[ting] 1,237. Let’s not ignore the will of the people. They’re going to be angry.’ And delegates may decide that, on that reason, they decide to vote for Donald Trump. But if they don’t, it is not illegitimate in any way. That’s why we elect delegates. That’s the meaning of being a delegate is choosing a nominee that can win.”

Rubio took another swipe at Trump, who has promised to bring jobs back from overseas. Rubio said the candidate and news media have downplayed the fact that the “digital economy” has eliminated jobs everywhere.

“All this talk about we’re just going to bring all these jobs back, well, some of those jobs just don’t exist anymore. You just can’t bring them back because machines now do them. And that’s been lost here,” Rubio said. “But Donald Trump has tapped into that anger and has effectively used it to win primaries and elections across the country.”