Former Rare Staff
The Democratic response to the first State of the Union of President Trump’s administration was overshadowed by what can be called a “Marco Rubio moment.”
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Tasked with delivering the official response to the president from his party, Robert F. Kennedy’s grandson, Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.), was slightly overshadowed by a noticeable glisten at the corners of his mouth.
As POLITICO notes, several observers were quick to draw comparisons between Kennedy’s glisten and Sen. Marco Rubio’s own behavior as he delivered the Republican response to former President Obama’s State of the Union address in 2013. Rubio famously struggled to complete his sentences through a dry mouth and awkwardly paused to take a sip of water.
American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp saw a similarity.
Rubio had his water
Kennedy has his drool— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) January 31, 2018
As did Republican pollster Frank Lutz.
Marco Rubio had dry-mouth during his #SOTU response in 2013.
Joe Kennedy has drool-mouth. pic.twitter.com/7DUVnfcIJJ
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) January 31, 2018
And also like Rubio, Luntz pointed out in another tweet, Kennedy will easily recover from the unwanted attention, as he is a “rising star of House Democrats.”
As for what was actually around his lips, Kennedy later indicated that it was excessive lip balm. In fact, he joked with “Good Morning America” that he’d chosen “to go a little bit light on the ChapStick” for his Wednesday morning appearance on the program.
Rep. Kennedy tells @GStephanopoulos he decided "to go light on the Chapstick" this morning after giving the Democratic response to the State of the Union. https://t.co/Uhk1ekQPME pic.twitter.com/h3tCYbOi75
— Good Morning America (@GMA) January 31, 2018
Rubio also used humor to rebound from his awkward moment.
#GOPResponse #SOTU #gop #tcot pic.twitter.com/3hxtgdbP
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 13, 2013
