Reports Unclear If Romney Will Endorse Rubio

The Huffington Post reported that Romney was scheduled to throw his backing behind the U.S. senator from Florida in the 2016 White House race, Rubio called the reports untrue and said no endorsement was forthcoming.

"That report is false," Rubio said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I don't know where those reports are coming from."

Romney has previously said he would not endorse a candidate until the party's nominee had been selected.

A source familiar with the former Massachusetts governor's thinking told Reuters that Romney's stance on an endorsement remains unchanged.

Earlier Story:

2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney will endorse Sen. Marco Rubio for president, The Huffington Post reported Sunday morning.

But other reports Sunday indicated that Romney was holding off on any endorsements.

Though details were scant, sources told the Post that the former Massachusetts governor had been eager to provide his backing to Rubio for days but had hesitated.

The holdup was due to his respect for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who ended his campaign on Saturday night following a fourth-place showing in the South Carolina primary.

"Romney’s backing will provide Rubio with the highest-profile endorsement of the 2016 race and is the clearest signal yet that the party’s establishment is ready to coalesce around the Florida senator as its last best chance to defeat GOP front-runner Donald Trump," the Post reported.

The endorsement came on the heels of Rubio's second-place finish in Saturday night's primary in South Carolina, where he edged out rival TCruz for the No. 2 slot, the website reported, citing unidentified Republican sources.

Romney will join a list of so-called establishment endorsements to back the first-term U.S. senator from Florida, including South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who endorsed Rubio days before the state's primary.

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