Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioFlorida senators pushing to keep Daylight Savings Time during pandemic Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations | GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal | QAnon awareness jumps in new poll Intelligence chief says Congress will get some in-person election security briefings MORE on Sunday said a report of an impending endorsement from 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyGOP-led panel to hear from former official who said Burisma was not a factor in US policy Joe Biden's dangerous view of 'normalcy' The electoral reality that the media ignores MORE is “false.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“Well that report is false,” Rubio said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I have no reason to believe that he’s anywhere near endorsing anyone.”

“We would love to have his endorsement,” he added. “We would love to have the help of everyone, because we would like to bring the Republican Party together.”

The Huffington Post on Sunday reported that Romney would endorse Rubio at some point this week, citing two unidentified Republican sources.

The report said Romney has been eager to back Rubio for days but had hesitated due to his respect for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who dropped out of the race on Saturday night.

Rubio also said Saturday night’s South Carolina primary, in which he finished second, represents a “reset” in the presidential race.

“I think last night was truly the beginning of the real Republican primary,” he said. “We went through the semifinals and the quarterfinals, and I think you’re now down to a core of probably three candidates who are running full-scale national campaigns.”

“This is where I think the race last night was a reset — in a way that quite frankly I think will be very beneficial to our efforts,” he added.