Ethics watchdogs question necessity of the US secretary of state flying between DC and Gainesville so often

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has emerged as a superfan of the University of Florida’s football team, spending more than $1.2m of taxpayers’ money on frequent personal trips to watch them play, a report published on Wednesday claims.

Ethics watchdogs have questioned the necessity of the country’s top diplomat shuttling so often between Washington DC and Gainesville, where his son Anthony has a walk-on role as a running back for the team known as the Gators.

An investigation by the Washington Post found that Rubio has attended at least 10 games in the last two seasons, including five this fall, and that of 23 total trips made to Gainesville on military aircraft, 15 were “personal” in nature.

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[–] 20 points 1 day ago (3 children)

The guy is second in command after the king! Show respect!

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  • [–] 18 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

    Lol as a Gators fan this is crazy, his son doesn't even play. He ran a few times in garbage time early in the season. He's like dead last on the depth chart

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  • [–] 48 points 1 day ago (6 children)

    So has Jeffries or Schumer mentioned getting reparations for the tax payers?

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  • [–] 31 points 1 day ago (4 children)

    Every single Democrat in the Senate voted in favor of Marco Rubio's nomination to Secretary of State

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  • [–] 7 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

    To be fair when he was nominated he looked like one of very few people that were somewhat qualified. Turns out that requirements of this position changed to be the White House jester.

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  • [–] 1 point 21 hours ago (1 child)

    To be fair when he was nominated he looked like one of very few people that were somewhat qualified.

    Foam Party Marco? The guy who got his start selling cocaine for his cousin?

    Rubio's sum total of political qualifications was being in tight enough with the Miami Mafia guys to get easy credit while looking fuckable enough to satisfy the twink hunters in DC.

    Everything he's achieved since has been an extension of one or the other. Drug cartels and trafficking gangs are his two biggest constituencies.

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  • [–] 13 points 23 hours ago

    Could have sent 15 people to get their master's degrees.

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  • [–] 6 points 23 hours ago (1 child)

    Guys, calm down! He has to go to the games. He'a the official child genital inspector.

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  • [–] 5 points 8 hours ago

    He sucks as a representative of his people but he's a really good sycophant and a great dad!

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  • [–] 5 points 4 hours ago

    Probably the most wholesome corruption in this admin. They're all criminals.

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  • [–] -2 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

    Might be the first misappropriation of taxpayer funds I can kind of get behind

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  • [–] 0 points 23 hours ago

    Not every father would spent this much to make his son happy. /s

    But seriously, why is he even holding this position? It is not like he is doing anything important.

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  • [+] -6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (5 children)

    If he’s catching a jumpseat on an existing flight I don’t really care.

    I really-read the article. He’s prohibited from flying commercially. This sounds like an excessive use of money but it’s not something we should worry about. There’s a lot more corruption going on elsewhere.

    Rubio is prohibited from flying commercially, because of security protocols that also cover the secretary of defense and FBI and CIA directors

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  • [–] 4 points 23 hours ago

    I think you know he isn't.

    Most recently, on 7 November, Rubio arrived in Gainesville on board an Air Force C-37, a plane used frequently for the VIP transport of high-ranking government officials, and was seen on the sidelines as the Gators lost 23-7 to Oklahoma. Anthony Rubio played no part in the game.

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  • [–] 9 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

    I do care. Because if any official in Biden's admin did this it would fill an entire news cycle and be condemned by Chuck Schumer and half of the Democrats in the name of optics. It would become a voting issue, and a national emergency, and probably even a new war in the mideast somehow if a Democrat was doing this.

    My tax dollars should go towards Americans' benefit, not enabling a diplomat to watch his son sit on the bench in a college football game. Watch it on TV like the rest of us poors.

    I can't go watch my niece's soccer game because I have bills to pay, so please justify to me why my paycheck should fund these trips for Marco Rubio to watch his son not play football.

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  • [–] 2 points 13 hours ago

    Sec of state and other top officials are a security risk. I’m ok with flying them to their kids football game every weekend. I don’t like it, and I don’t like it even more when it’s Rubio, but it’s a necessity for the job.

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