After Rubio’s strange slip-up onstage, Christie did his best to rat him out.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Marco Rubio’s bizarre set of repetitions during the Republican debate on Saturday left many people confused about how his brain really works. The first time, he said, “Let's dispel once and for all with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing. He knows exactly what he's doing.” After literally repeating this line three times with nearly the exact same intonation, Chris Christie criticized him for merely getting canned speeches from Washington, DC, and seeming almost robotic.
“Let’s stop pretending that Marco Rubio doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing,” Christie said in response. “He is allowing a systematic effort to change him and make him like every other politician. When I’m president of the United States, we are going to re-embrace all the things that made our leaders the greatest leaders in the world, and we are going to leave our children with what they deserve: the single greatest president in the history of the world.”
The applause filled the room, and the support quickly showed the next day, with Christie vastly rising in polls over Rubio.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="07917c88-c542-11e5-9d9f-9f07fcfdd50a"}}
When asked about this support and how shocking it was to many who doubted his potential as a candidate, Christie said, “Can we all stop pretending that I don’t know what I’m doing? I know exactly what I’m doing.”
Rubio has since not been left alone by the media. Swarmed by interviewers, Rubio described his relationship with Christie.
“I don’t know what led him to do these vicious, inhuman attacks,” Rubio told reporters. “It’s really grinding my gears. Christie and I used to be friends. We used to relax together, even take a day off to recharge together. It feels like that all short-circuited. Now, I feel like the connection we had has been cut, like a wire being torn apart by pliers. This is all just a plug for his campaign, but I’m going to keep standing strong. I’ve got a heart of steel.”
Before leaving, Rubio reportedly jokingly said that he ought to “change his batteries” before the next debate, before once more mentioning Obama and how he knows exactly what he’s doing.
Marco Omta is a freshman studying music production. Do you think Marco Rubio is a robot? Email Marco at mo183714@ohio.edu.
