Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Wednesday that the fact that three of the four top Republican presidential candidates are minorities shows the party’s diversity and strength.

{mosads}The remark came during an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” when host George Stephanopoulos brought up the similarities between Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Stephanopoulos noted that the two rivals for the GOP presidential nomination are both 44 years old, of Cuban descent, are in their first terms in the Senate, and have had Tea Party support.

“I like that. Ted is a friend of mine,” Rubio said.

“I think it’s interesting that the four top candidates in that field, three of them, of the four, come from minority backgrounds, which speaks a lot to the diversity of the Republican Party and the strength of our party,” added Rubio, whose parents immigrated from Cuba.

Another top Republican presidential candidate is Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who is African-American. Carson is neck and neck in polls with Donald Trump.

Republicans have sought in recent years to broaden their appeal among minorities, a major focus of the “autopsy report” released by the party following its second loss to Barack Obama in 2012.

The issue has roiled Republicans this year, with Trump, who has been atop the polls since early summer, focusing largely on Hispanics illegally immigrating across the southern border into the U.S.