Marco Rubio had a very bad night at the Republican debate on Saturday. And no video makes it clearer than the one above, showing Rubio repeating the exact same line over and over again — even after he was criticized for it by Chris Christie.
Watch Marco Rubio “short-circuit” and repeat the same debate talking point again and again
The context is important here: Early in the debate, Christie mocked Rubio for relying so much on his stump speech at the debate. Christie said, “Every morning when a United States senator wakes up, they think about, ‘What kind of speech can I give, or what kind of bill can I drop?’ Every morning, when I wake up, I think about what kind of problem do I need to solve for the people who actually elected me. It’s a different experience.”
Rubio then went on to repeat the same line over and over again, doing exactly what Christie criticized him for:
- 8:30 pm: “And 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.”
- 8:32 pm: “Let’s dispel with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
- 8:34 pm: “This notion that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing is just not true. He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
- 9:21 pm: “I think anyone who believes that Barack Obama isn’t doing what he’s doing on purpose doesn’t understand what we’re dealing with here. Okay?”
It happened so often that it even launched a Twitter account, called RubioGlitch:
Let's dispel with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing. He knows exactly what he's doing.
— Marco Rubio Glitch (@RubioGlitch) February 7, 2016
Let's dispel with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing. He knows exactly what he's doing
— Marco Rubio Glitch (@RubioGlitch) February 7, 2016
Here's the bottom line, this notion that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing is just not true. He knows exactly what he's doing.
— Marco Rubio Glitch (@RubioGlitch) February 7, 2016
This is a particularly bad time for Rubio to stumble in a debate. The New Hampshire primary election on Tuesday is supposed to be the moment he contrasts himself as the establishment candidate. But his repetition of this same line over and over has given other potential establishment candidates, particularly Christie, a chance to attack him.
Watch: Chris Christie calls out Marco Rubio
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By Javier Zarracina and Sarah Frostenson
