Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that he personally apologized to Donald Trump for using the “men with small hands” taunt during the Republican presidential primary.

“I actually told Donald at one of the debates, I apologized to him,” Rubio said. “I said, I’m sorry that i said that. I didn’t say it in front of the cameras. I didn’t want any political benefit. Not because of him but because of me. I didn’t like what it reflected on me. It embarrassed my family. It’s not who I am. And you did it almost in the sense of, at this point nothing is working, this guy is out there every day mocking people, saying horrible things about people, but if you respond to him, somehow you’re hitting below the belt. And that was my sense of it at the time. What I didn’t realize was it isn’t who I am, and if you’re not being who you are, it doesn’t come across well. He can do that, because for whatever reason he can do that, but I couldn’t do that. It’s not what I am. It’s not what I do. I ended up hurting myself, not him.

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN