Is Marco Rubio trolling Hillary Clinton?
No question.
In a tweet Wednesday afternoon, Rubio’s campaign asked supporters to wish the senator—who turns 44 today—a happy birthday. The tweet featured a graphic of an American flag, emblazoned with “44” instead of the stars and the names of U.S. states on the stripes. Standard campaign fare.
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But a closer look shows that the image strongly resembles a cake given to then President Bill Clinton for his 50th birthday. According to press reports, Clinton’s confection was a 300-pound, made to order cake presented at a Democratic fundraiser that brought in some $10 million.
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Clinton’s birthday bash took place on August 19, 1996, just ten weeks from the presidential election in which Clinton would face Senator Bob Dole. Perhaps more important, the party came less than a month after Dole celebrated a birthday, his 73rd. The Clinton celebration was, of course, an attempt to highlight that 23-year age difference in a subtle and indirect way.
Rubio, whose announcement speech emphasized the need for a “generational change” in American politics, is plainly trying to do the same thing – and doing it in a way that the Clintons can hardly criticize. That age gap? Also 23 years.
