Marco Rubio drew battle lines before the University of Florida and Florida State University faced off Saturday in football. He wound up betting on the wrong reptile.
Rubio, the Florida senator who currently sits at third in the Washington Examiner‘s presidential power rankings, tweeted out his support for the Gators before the game.
FSU trounced the Gators with a 27-2 victory. The Seminoles’ football Twitter account responded to Rubio in a short but sweet bout of social media trolling:
Thoughts? @marcorubio
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) November 29, 2015
Rubio, a Miami native, went to Tarkio College for a year on a football scholarship, but later earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida and his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law.
This is not the first time Rubio has shown his bias against Florida State football. In a September interview with KNXO 1460 AM in Des Moines, Iowa, he discussed how of Florida’s three big-time college football programs (Florida, Florida State and Miami), the Seminoles have the least amount of his respect.
“Look, I don’t have anything against Florida State,” Rubio said before delivering his zinger. “I think there has to be a school where people that can’t get into Florida can go to college. And that’s why we have Florida State.”
He continued to dig his hole deeper in terms of alienating FSU’s student population of over 32,000 undergrads, most of whom are of legal voting age.
“I grew up in Miami, I’m a Gator fan, but I don’t root against the Hurricanes,” Rubio said. “When they play Florida State, it isn’t hard for me to root against Florida State.”
Rubio’s football prowess was called into question in August when a GIF began circulating of him hitting a child in the face with a football while campaigning in Iowa.
