During the 2016 Republican Party presidential debates, Donald Trump referred to Senator Marco Rubio as “Little Marco.” This was partially a reference to Marco’s height, which is 5'9" or 5'10", depending on the source. Rubio is much smaller than Trump, who is 6'2 ". Rubio is taller than Rand Paul and the same height as Ted Cruz. When Trump called him Little Marco, it suggested a smallness in the man and a lack of character, a claim that has finally proven true.
Rubio was born in Miami, FL, in 1971 to two Cuban non-citizen parents. It’s worth noting that Marco benefited from birthright citizenship and would be deported if Trump got his way in overturning the Fourteenth Amendment. Rubio’s parents became United States citizens in 1975.
While earning his law degree, Rubio interned for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and worked on Republican senator Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign. In April 1998, two years after finishing law school, Rubio was elected to a seat as city commissioner for West Miami. He became a member of the Florida House of Representatives in early 2000 and campaigned as a moderate, advocating tax cuts and early childhood education.
While in the Florida House, Rubio co-sponsored legislation that would have let farmworkers sue growers in state court if they were shortchanged on pay and co-sponsored a bill for giving in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. Florida lawmakers just passed a bill ending in-state rates for the children of migrants. Governor Ron DeSantis has threatened to veto the bill, saying it “doesn’t go far enough.”
Rubio rose through the ranks of the Republican leadership in Florida, eventually becoming the House Speaker while remaining someone Democrats felt they could work with. In 2010, Rubio won election to the US Senate, becoming one of two Hispanic Americans in the body. Rubio’s charisma, looks, and ambition made people consider that he could one day become the first President of Hispanic origin. In April 2015, Rubio threw his hat in the ring and announced he was running for president.
Donald Trump had a way of dismissing his rivals in the 2016 campaign by giving them nicknames that fascinated the media and stuck. There was Low Energy Jeb, Lyin’ Ted, Sloppy Chris Christie, and Little Marco. After dropping out of the race in March 2016, Rubio did what every other Republican did and ultimately endorsed Trump for the nomination. Rubio was generally a reliable vote for Trump's policies during Trump’s first term, though I always give him credit for a moment of integrity. Rubio and Black Republican Senator Tim Scott said no to a Trump nominee for a federal judgeship who has racist writings in their background. In 2019, Rubio still had an ounce of integrity that has since disappeared.
In 2024, Rubio supported Trump’s presidential campaign and, after his election, agreed to become his Secretary of State. I give Rubio the benefit of the doubt. He may have felt this was the best way he could serve his country. Rubio had always been active in Latin American and South American relationships with America. The Secretary of State and the President must appear to act on one accord. To stay in the job, I’m sure Rubio has to bite his tongue sometimes as his boss makes racist comments about brown and Black people.
Rubio, who drew a line about voting for a judge with racist writings in his youth, just appointed a man to his staff with racist writings last October. Darren Beattie will serve as the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs after tweeting, “Competent white men must be in charge for things to work.” Beattie is also a supporter of Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes and has been a speaker at white nationalist conferences. On January 6, 2021, Beattie made several tweets telling Senator Tim Scott and Black Lives Matter, among others, to “take a knee to MAGA.”
“Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.” — Darren Beattie
After Beattie’s appointment, Rubio appointed Pete Marocco to run the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), despite Marocco’s Jan. 6 past. Marocco was pictured climbing through broken windows at the Capitol, though he was never charged.
Rubio has had to justify the president’s stance about possibly taking the Panama Canal and Greenland by force and, most recently, occupying Gaza with US troops. Rubio has become the puppet Trump was the first to imagine in 2016, “Little Marco Rubio.”
Say what you like about Trump’s first Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson; during Trump’s first term, he was his own man. While serving under Trump, Tillerson made his objections known about some of Trump’s ideas and his political speech at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree. In one meeting, Tillerson was quoted as either calling Trump a “moron” or a “fucking moron.” Rubio has long ago stopped voicing objections to Trump.
“It was challenging for me coming from the disciplined, highly process-oriented Exxon Mobil corporation … to go to work for a man who is pretty undisciplined, doesn’t like to read, doesn’t read briefing reports, doesn’t like to get into the details of a lot of things, but rather just kind of says, 'This is what I believe,’” said Rex Tillerson
Marco Rubio is young enough to consider running for president once again. He will never outgrow the moniker “Little Marco” that he’s now shrunk into. It’s a shame; he could have been a contender.