Marco Rubio

Rubio's official portrait.

God, guns, and freedom
U.S. Politics

Starting arguments over Thanksgiving dinner

* 2012 U.S. presidential election
* Anchor baby
* Paul Ryan
* Texas Board of Education
* Greg Abbott
* Tad Devine
* 2020 U.S. presidential election

Persons of interest

* Paul Nehlen
* Jeb Bush
* Jim Inhofe
* Lyndon B. Johnson
* Bill Richardson
* Henry Clay

v \- t \- e

“”We should change the names of AR-15s to 'Marco Rubio' because they are so easy to buy.

—Sarah Chadwick, a Parkland shooting survivor, calling out Rubio for his initial defense of the NRA.

Marco Antonio Rubio (28 May 1971–) is the current Republican senior senator from Florida, former lawyer, and failed 2016 presidential candidate.

## Contents

* 1 Biography
* 2 Fun fact...
* 3 Political views
* 3.1 Cannabis
* 3.2 Education
* 3.3 Gun rights
* 3.3.1 Parkland shooting
* 3.4 Healthcare
* 3.5 Abortion
* 3.6 LGBT issues
* 3.7 Foreign policy
* 3.8 UAPs
* 4 Notes
* 5 References

## Biography[edit]

The son of Cuban immigrants,[1] Rubio first became interested in politics when he majored in political science at the University of Florida. Graduating with his B.A. in 1993,[2] he began studying law at the University of Miami School of Law, during which time he worked for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.[3] He earned his J.D. and graduated cum laude in 1996.[4] That same year he worked on Senator Bob Dole's  1996 Presidential campaign.[5]

Starting in 2000, Rubio served in the Florida House of Representatives, eventually becoming Speaker of the House.[1]

Elected to the United States Senate in 2010,[3] he is (as of 2021) is one of six Latino Americans serving in the Senate, alongside fellow conservative Cuban-American Ted Cruz, as well as Bob Menendez, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ben Ray Luján, and Alex Padilla.[6]

In April 2015, Rubio announced that he would run for President of the United States,[3] though he ended up suspending his campaign after Donald Trump won Rubio's home state of Florida in the  primaries.[3] During the 2016 campaign, Trump had a particularly fun time bashing Rubio, calling him "little Marco" (in apparent reference to Rubio's relatively small stature of 5'9") and "a little frightened puppy".[7][8] Perhaps Trump's "best" internet flame at Rubio was Trump's tweet that "Lightweight choker Marco Rubio looks like a little boy on stage."[9]

After dropping out of the 2016 Presidential campaign and initially stating that he would not seek reelection in the Senate, Rubio changed his mind and was reelected in the 2016 general election.

Rubio seemingly changes religious stances with the wind. He's transferred from Catholicism to Mormonism, back to Catholicism, then to a Southern Baptist Convention-affiliated evangelical megachurch, before joining up with Catholicism again.[10] While it's unclear what type of confusion could cause a person to completely reject, then be completely convinced, then completely reject again the factual assertion that an  Angel named Moroni led Joseph Smith to the  Third Book of the Bible in upstate New York in the 1820s, it probably has nothing to do with pandering to the voters.

## Fun fact...[edit]

Len Blavatnik, a Soviet Union-born dual national of the US and UK, is financially associated with Russian oligarchs, and he donated $1.5 million to political action committees associated with Rubio.[11]

## Political views[edit]

### Cannabis[edit]

Rubio is against the legalization of cannabis and supports criminal penalties for recreational cannabis use.[12] However, he is open to the legalization of medical marijuana.[13]

### Education[edit]

Rubio supports shutting down the Department of Education,[14] expanding charter schools,[15][16] and teaching creationism in classrooms.[17] However, he also does support the teaching of evolution.[17]

He is an outspoken opponent of Common Core.[14]

### Gun rights[edit]

In 2016, the NRA Political Victory Fund gave Rubio an A+ rating.[18] He is a prominent supporter of the Second Amendment.

#### Parkland shooting[edit]

In the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018, Rubio stated that he is against a ban on assault rifles[19] but wouldn't go so far to suggest arming teachers.[20] After pressure from the Never Again MSD activists, Rubio announced his support for the ban of bump stocks as well as more stringent background checks.[21]

### Healthcare[edit]

Rubio supports a full repeal of Obamacare[22] (because of course he does) and replacing it with tax credits and less regulation, saying that tax credits could be used for health insurance.[23]

### Abortion[edit]

Not surprisingly, Rubio is anti-abortion and opposes abortion in all cases, including rape and incest.[24] He strongly opposes Roe v. Wade, calling it an "egregiously flawed decision."[25][26]

### LGBT issues[edit]

Rubio thinks that LGBT issues should be left up to the states to decide. Though he is not overtly homophobic, he thinks that marriage should remain "traditional," between a man and a woman.[27]

### Foreign policy[edit]

Rubio does not like the current government of Venezuela and has advocated regime change.[28] He also doxxed the man behind the 'Salt Bae" meme for cooking for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.[29]

Rubio has said that he does not think the Iraq War was a mistake,[30] though he would not have supported it at the time had he known there were no weapons of mass destruction.[31] He supports the current Saudi intervention in Yemen.[32][33]

Rubio is also vocal in his opposition to the Chinese government, including their camps in Xinjiang and crackdown of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, enough to earn himself an individual sanction.[34] Given Rubio's own track record and defense of Trump's camps and crackdown of protesters, one has to question whether this is simply political opportunism.[note 1]

### UAPs[edit]

The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) was created at Rubio's request to detect, analyze, and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security.[35]

## Notes[edit]

1. ↑ It is.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Biography: U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). rubio.senate.gov. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021.
2. ↑ Bennett, George. Republican candidate Marco Rubio casts U.S. Senate race as battle for America. The Palm Beach Post. October 2, 2010. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 McNamee, Gregory Lewis. Marco Rubio. Britannica. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021.
4. ↑ Marco Rubio. Florida International University. Archived from the original on September 27, 2021.
5. ↑ Karl, Jonathan et al. Exclusive: Bob Dole Endorses Marco Rubio in 2016 Race. ABC News. February 22, 2016. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021.
6. ↑ Hispanic American Senators. United States Senate. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021.
7. ↑ Trump to Rubio: 'Don't worry about it, Little Marco'
8. ↑ Trump bashes Rubio: He's a 'little frightened puppy'.
9. ↑ https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/insults-donald-trump-hurled-convention-speakers-marco-rubio/story?id=40755266
10. ↑ Marco Rubio's Crisis of Faith: Why his complicated, unique religious journey is causing him trouble with voters.
11. ↑ How Putin's proxies helped funnel millions into GOP campaigns by Ruth May (December 15, 2017) The Dallas Morning News (archived from February 22, 2018).
12. ↑ Wilson, Kirby. What is the future of legal marijuana in Florida? Tampa Bay Times. December 8, 2020. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021.
13. ↑ Joseph, Chris. Marco Rubio Says He'd Crack Down on Marijuana If Elected President. New Times Broward-Palm Beach. August 11, 2015. Archived from the original on June 13, 2021.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Leary, Alex. Rubio may oppose Common Core but has supported the ideas behind it. Tampa Bay Times. January 22, 2016. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021.
15. ↑ McLean, Joe. Rubio touts school choice in visit to Jacksonville charter school. News4Jax. March 29, 2021. Archived from the original on April 1, 2021.
16. ↑ Senator Rubio Introduces Legislation To Expand School Choice. rubio.senate.gov. February 13, 2013. Archived from the original on July 30, 2021.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Haught, Brandon. Florida’s presidential candidate Marco Rubio on the teaching of evolution. Florida Citizens for Science. April 18, 2015. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020.
18. ↑ NRA-PVF "A+" Rated and Endorsed Marco Rubio. NRA-PVF. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021.
19. ↑ Stracqualursi, Veronica. Rubio says banning semiautomatic rifles is ‘well outside’ mainstream. CNN. February 22, 2018. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021.
20. ↑ Samuels, Brett. Rubio breaks with Trump, doesn't support arming teachers. The Hill. February 21, 2018. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020.
21. ↑ Timmons, Heather. Four gun-control measures Florida senator Marco Rubio says he’d back after Parkland. Quartz. February 22, 2018. Archived from the original on February 25, 2018.
22. ↑ Rubio Votes to Repeal ObamaCare. Press Releases. rubio.senate.gov. January 12, 2017. Archived from the original on June 13, 2021.
23. ↑ Rubio, Marco. My Plan To Fix Health Care. Politico Magazine. August 17, 2015. Archived from the original on February 27, 2021.
24. ↑ Gillin, Joshua. Rubio would take away right to abortions for rape or incest victims, Murphy says. PolitiFact. September 23, 2016. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021.
25. ↑ Peters, Gerhard and John T. Woolley. Marco Rubio, Press Release - Life Is A Definitional Issue. The American Presidency Project. UC Santa Barbara. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021.
26. ↑ Bassett, Laura. Marco Rubio: Roe v. Wade Was ‘Egregiously Flawed Decision’. Politics. Huffpost. July 10, 2015. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020.
27. ↑ Margolin, Emma. Marco Rubio Challenged on Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage. NBC News. February 8, 2016. Archived from the original on August 12, 2021.
28. ↑ Marco Rubio: U.S. Military Intervention Could Solve Venezuelan Crisis Newsweek. September 1, 2018
29. ↑ Why is Marco Rubio tweeting about Salt Bae? Vox. September 20, 2018
30. ↑ Hensch, Mark.Rubio: Iraq invasion 'was not a mistake'. The Hill. May 17, 2015. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020.
31. ↑ Sherman, Amy. Rubio's statements on Iraq have shifted but not flipped. PolitiFact. May 18, 2015. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020.
32. ↑ VIDEO: Rubio: War Powers Resolution is the Wrong Way to Deal with Yemen Conflict. rubio.senate.gov. December 13, 2018. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021.
33. ↑ Rubio, Marco. Senator Marco Rubio: Hold Saudis accountable, but don't ignore Iran in Yemen. Fox News. December 12, 2018. Archived from the original on September 3, 2021.
34. ↑ China imposes sanctions on US officials in retaliation for Hong Kong measures Financial Times. August 11, 2020
35. ↑ Senators want the public to see the government’s UFO reports by Bryan Bender (June 23, 2020) Politico

United States 2016 presidential election articles on RationalWiki

Topics: Affordable Care Act \- Citizens United v. FEC \- DAESH \- Gun control \- Illegal immigration \- Koch Industries \- United States Electoral College \- Trump's Wall
Parties: Democratic Party (primaries) \- Green Party of the United States \- Libertarian Party \- Republican Party (primaries • Convention • Tea Party)
Candidates: Bush (R) \- Carson (R) \- Christie (R) \- Clinton (D) \- Cruz (R) \- Huckabee (R) \- Jindal (R) \- Johnson (Lib) \- Kasich (R) \- Paul (R) \- Perry (R) \- Rubio (R) \- Sanders (D) \- Stein (Green) \- Trump (R) \- Walker (R) \- Webb (D) • Running mates: Kaine (D) \- Pence (R)
Winner: Donald Trump