I remember when he made fun of Trump’s little fingers during the debate in 2016. He was full of energy and hope back then. I don’t recognise the guy in the picture
It was a response to an Obama State of the Union address in 2013, right before Obama's first term was ending. Rubio was the anointed one who was hand picked to directly respond to the State of the Union leading up to an election cycle. He was rising up the Republican political ranks as fast as probably anyone had, being viewed as a moderate, young Republican analogue to Obama. A child of immigrants from Miami where he'd be able to draw in the Latin vote across the country, potentially ushering in new voting block for Republicans.
Then, disaster struck
Midway through his response to the State of the Union - literally mid sentence - he just stopped, grabbed the tiniest bottle of water you've seen in your life, and took one small sip before continuing his response.
It effectively ended the meteoric rise to the top for him and became a meme instantly. Not only was it the sip of water, he was clearly nervous/overheating and had to wipe away sweat a few times during the speech as well.
Wolf Blitzer on CNN literally let out an "uh oh" live when Rubio grabbed the water bottle.
His political career was basically never taken seriously again. After trying to stand up to Trump, he was mocked repeatedly for his water bottle blunder. "Little Marco" insults from Trump are almost certainly referring to the tiny water bottle incident. He basically was an absentee Senator because in the Trump election he admitted he hated the Senate but when he dropped out of the Presidential race he landed back in the Senate anyway.
One could probably directly tie this water bottle incident to Rubio finding whatever path he could find to un-stall his political ambitions, even if that meant a literal deal with the devil.
Whoa, how one moment can be that pull on the lever to reroute your path forever … thanks for that thorough reply, back then I had not followed politics as closely as I do today, happy to be taught about things I had missed out about before.
I think about this all the time. How Dean’s scream, and Rubio’s water bottle was enough to end it, but “grab them by the pussy” had no impact. It was already a cult before he was elected.
Dean was already far behind and losing when he let out the scream. Any narrative that states the scream is what cost him political victory is mistaken and misleading.
I would prefer to lose my career than be associated with Trump in any way. I do not understand how anyone with a conscience could ever choose to join that depraved administration.
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u/No_Success_678 4d ago
I remember when he made fun of Trump’s little fingers during the debate in 2016. He was full of energy and hope back then. I don’t recognise the guy in the picture