Rubio afraid of questions..

Rubio holds 'town halls' — with no audience questions

By Mike Zapler

Marco Rubio’s campaign events here have been billed as “town halls.” But if you’re a South Carolina voter, don’t expect to ask him a question.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Florida senator’s campaign held four events — all dubbed ahead of time as “town halls” — but the candidate didn't take questions from voters at any of them. He did stick around each time to mingle and take selfies with audience members after delivering his roughly 40-minute stump speech. He also took questions from reporters after an event Wednesday.

A campaign spokesman said the events were changed from town halls to rallies. That more controlled setting allows Rubio to limit the possibility of a bad moment in the home stretch to Saturday’s primary.

Rubio is neck-and-neck with Ted Cruz for second place behind Donald Trump, according to polls, and the Florida lawmaker got a big boost Wednesday when South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed him.

Rubio is participating in a CNN–hosted town hall airing on Wednesday night. All five other GOP hopefuls are, too, either at the Wednesday forum or a companion town hall on Thursday night that the cable network is hosting.