Marco Rubio won’t say whether or not he smoked pot in the past because he’s thinking of the kids. If he were to deny that he ever experimented, Rubio claims that nobody would believe him. But if he were to own up it — as Barack Obama did before he ran for president — Rubio thinks it would send the wrong message to all the young people who look up to him.
So, who are these young Marco Rubio super fans? Stephen Colbert did his best to find out on Thursday, bringing on someone named David who professed to be a diehard supporter of the Florida senator.
“Did you know my man Rube dog helped draft a Senate immigration bill, before backing away from it, then ultimately voting for it only to see it go nowhere in the House? He’s the man,” gushed David before he took a gulp of water, a nod to Rubio’s own awkward pause during his response to last year’s State of the Union address.
In an interview this week, Rubio once again dodged a question about his history with marijuana.
“If you say that you did, then suddenly there are people out there saying, ‘Well, it’s not a big deal,’” Rubio told ABC’s Jon Karl, echoing an answer he gave in February. “On the other side of it is if you tell people that you didn’t, they won’t believe you.”
Rubio told Karl that his non-answer on the pot question was inspired by an encounter with someone who read his memoir, “American Son,” in which the Republican recounted his lackluster high school career.
“Someone came up to me and said, ‘You know, I enjoyed your book, but I want you to know, my son came up to me and said he doesn’t have to get good grades in high school, because look at Marco Rubio, he didn’t do well in high school and look how successful he’s been,’” Rubio recalled.
Colbert wondered if David slacks off in school because he had heard that Rubio did.
“Stephen, let me tell you why I never that question,” David explained. “If I said I’m not slacking off, you wouldn’t believe me. And if I said I am slacking off, I’d be setting a bad example for all the middle school kids who look up to me because I’m in high school.”
