Did Marco Rubio just have his John Kerry “I voted for it before I vote against it” moment?

Asked to defend his absence from a omnibus budget bill vote Friday, the Republican presidential contender attempted to spin skipping the vote to campaign to his advantage.

“Look at this omnibus vote that just happened in Washington — this massive, grotesque piece of legislation. That’s the kind of thing that shouldn’t be happening and if there was presidential leadership it wouldn’t be happening and when I’m president, it won’t,” Rubio told CBS News.

“So that’s why I’m out campaigning. I want these votes to matter again. I want the work in Washington to be productive on behalf of the American people. That will require me to be away for some time while I’m campaigning but I intend to win this race so these votes will matter again.”

The reporter responded, “The push back would be that if it’s such a big and important deal and such a gargantuan abuse, this omnibus bill, then why not go back there and say it?”

“Well, in essence, not voting for it is a vote against it,” Rubio said.

Earlier in the day, Rubio appeared on Fox News and host Jenna Lee didn’t let him off the hook.

“You’re telling us there’s nothing really that can be done to stop this omnibus spending bill. So if you can’t lead on this issue as a sitting senator, how can our viewers believe you’ll do it as president,” she asked.

“Well actually we can do something about it,” Rubio replied. “I didn’t say we can’t do anything about it. We can most certainly slow this process down and force them to go back and make changes. There’s no doubt that we can and we should and we will.

“And I think there’s an effort underway now among many conservatives in the Senate and in the House to make that happen.”

“So what would be your role in slowing down the bill, how would you do it?” Lee asked.

“Well, again, they need all — all you — if you could — what you can do ultimately is slow it down and make them take more days in order to pass it,” Rubio responded.