Not long ago, Rubio questioned his readiness for presidency

FILE - In this April 15, 2015, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., discusses their recently released tax reform plan at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. Rubio lacks the experience to be president and Jeb Bush is a brilliant man ready for the job. So said Marco Rubio. Thing is, that was Rubio a few years ago, a man of seeming humility who joked that the only thing he deserved being president of was a condo association. He dismissed in colorful terms the idea that one term in the Senate could make a man ready for the White House. (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File) FILE - In this April 15, 2015, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., discusses their recently released tax reform plan at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. Rubio lacks the experience to be president and Jeb Bush is a brilliant man ready for the job. So said Marco Rubio. Thing is, that was Rubio a few years ago, a man of seeming humility who joked that the only thing he deserved being president of was a condo association. He dismissed in colorful terms the idea that one term in the Senate could make a man ready for the White House. (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File)

By Associated Press April 24, 2015 4 min read

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Marco Rubio lacks the experience to be president and Jeb Bush is a brilliant man ready for the job. So said Marco Rubio.

Thing is, that was Rubio a few years ago, a man of seeming humility who joked that the only thing he deserved being president of was a condo association. He dismissed in colorful terms the idea that one term in the Senate could make a man ready for the White House.

“Everyone I’ve ever known that tries to use their position as a stepping stone for something else has ended up destroying themselves,” he said during a 2012 book tour.

Times – and ambition and ego – have changed.

Bush, the former governor who guided Rubio’s early political career, won Rubio’s praise as “one of the biggest, best thinkers in the Republican Party” with an “amazing” depth of knowledge on almost every issue.