President-elect Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters are reminded of his old tweets criticizing Marco Rubio amid rumors that the Florida senator may be given a role in his administration.
On Tuesday, numerous reports indicated that Trump was expected to choose Rubio for Secretary of State, leading many to highlight the pair’s previous contentious relationship.
A tweet from 2015 in which Trump described Rubio as both a “total lightweight” and “highly overrated politician” garnered widespread attention. In it, Trump claimed that he wouldn’t even allow Rubio to run one of his “smaller companies.”
Another tweet from that year saw Trump referring to Rubio not only as “Lazy” but “totally owned” by lobbyists and special interests.
The X account Being Libertarian concurred on Tuesday with Trump’s previous remark.
“I agree,” the account wrote.
Fans of Trump’s isolationist, nationalist policies have been sharing the old tweets, fearing Rubio becoming a warmonger in his cabinet.
“I prefer this Trump,” wrote @NHpilled.
“Follow your own instincts, Mr. President. There’s still time to reverse on Rubio,” wrote @yaddlezap
Trump hurled countless insults during the primary, including his signature “Little Marco Rubio” nickname for the senator.
Other terms used by Trump to describe Rubio include “clueless,” “dishonest,” weak,” and a “joke.”
Those phrases were flagged again and again by anti-Rubio MAGA supporters.
“No to Rubio. I’ll let Trump tell you why…” wrote @lisachristinect.
“What changed?” one user asked on Tuesday in response to a 2016 tweet in which Trump called Rubio weak.
But it’s not just Trump getting reminded of his past comments. The Florida senator attacked Trump in return at the time, labeling the billionaire businessman as a “con artist.”
The senator himself is being bombarded by those who view his support for the incoming administration as cowardly.
“Trump is expected to select Marco Rubio to be his Secretary of State,” the user CALL TO ACTIVISM wrote. “I’m sure Marco would hate it if you RTed this clip of him saying if Trump hadn’t inherited $200 million dollars, he’d be selling watches in Manhattan.”
A compilation of clips from CNN also circulated online showing Trump and Rubio suggesting that the other had small genitals.
Yet like nearly all Republicans who criticized Trump in 2016, Rubio has since become a staunch loyalist given the president-elect’s tight grip over the entire party.
And it seems like he’ll be rewarded for that.
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