The Shamelessness of Marco Rubio
Next to all of the take-Americans-for-nitwits scams perpetrated by the Trump administration, the news that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been using taxpayer-funded military jets to fly to college-football games doesn’t amount to that much.
Key points
- The great Irish essayist Fintan O’Toole once advised another political party in another country, “Never let the people who think they are making a sacrifice realise that in fact they are the sacrifice.” Marco Rubio….
- [ Read: How to fix the mess of college sports ] Rubio is hardly the first or last government official to engage in ethically iffy travel, and he’s got nothing on former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ’s flying bedroom and bar.
- A Rubio spokesperson called aspects of the Post report “moronic.” Is it really good policy to dismiss a report about potential financial abuse when voters have identified corruption as a leading concern?
[ Read: Is Marco Rubio the happiest Cabinet member?
] When asked about the trips, Rubio said, “I have and will continue to try and make it to as many events that are important to me personally and to my family as possible,” implying that he just wants to encourage his kid.
Additional details
- A Fox News opinion writer accused the Post reporters of trying to “shame” Rubio and of ruining a feel-good story by “yucking everyone’s yum,” as if, because it’s for the sake of football, sponging off taxpayers is okay.
- Former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on social media, “Washington Post confirms Secretary Rubio is a great Dad.” None of Rubio’s defenders seems to recognize that this doesn’t look right.
- Apparently, it is personally important to Rubio to use Americans’ tax dollars to wave school colors while watching his kid’s back as he wears a numeral on the sideline.
- Rubio has defended his flights by saying that the events are important to his family—his son is a senior running back for the Gators.
- And still, Rubio flew in for the October 31 marquee matchup with top-ranked Georgia, and for a game on November 7 against Oklahoma.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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