US president-elect Donald Trump is set to pick Florida Senator Marco Rubio as his Secretary of State, according to reports in local media.
Reports suggest that Rubio has more chances than his rival contender and Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy. The former GOP presidential candidate has backed Trump's mass deportation plan, calling it a "pragmatic" approach that Americans agree with.
The reports about Rubio's likely selection comes after Trump picked Mike Waltz as his National Security Adviser, Elise Stefanik as US Ambassador to the UN, border czar Tom Homan and Susie Wiles as White House Chief of Staff.
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The likely inclusion of Rubio would be seen as Trump's attempt to increase Latino representation in his new administration, especially after the community voted for him in some of the key swing states recently.
Born in Miami, Florida, Rubio's parents are Cuban immigrants who came to the US in 1956. They later moved to Las Vegas. He was raised a Catholic and later got baptised as a Mormon.
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However, he returned to his original faith later. After the family returned to Florida in 1985, Rubio completed his law degree from the University of Miami.
His career in politics began with a stint with GOP Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and later joined the West Miami City Commission. He was elected as Florida Rep in 1999 and continued in the post until 2008.
Rubio then won the US Senate election in 2010 and aligned himself as a conservative, opposing gun control, climate change law etc.
In 2016, he challenged Donald Trump in the primaries when he called Trump a "con artist" and "the most vulgar person to ever seek the presidency" but later supported the former rival.