Marco Rubio on Monday framed the presidential election as a choice that would define America’s role on the global stage. In doing so, he took direct aim at both Hillary Clinton’s record as secretary of state and Republican candidates he called “isolationists”.

Wrapping a visit to New Hampshire, which will hold the first presidential primary in just over a month’s time, the Florida senator accused Clinton of lying in her response to the September 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi. He also called her “incompetent” and criticised her policy regarding Russia and Syria.

But the senator, polling in the top tier of a crowded Republican field, reserved some of his sharpest criticism for his own party. Although he did not mention any candidate by name, he took subtle shots at Texas senator Ted Cruz, Kentucky senator Rand Paul and the frontrunner, Donald Trump.

“On the other side of this election is the party of Reagan, the party of strong national defense and moral clarity,” he said. “Yet we have Republican candidates who propose that rulers like [Syrian president Bashar al-] Assad and [Russian president Vladimir] Putin should be partners of the United States, and who have voted with Barack Obama and Harry Reid rather than with our men and women in uniform.

Read the article “Rubio Calls Republican Rivals Isolationist as He Makes National Security Pitch” on theguardian.com.