New Times photo-illustration. Source images: Hector Vivas/Getty Images (Rubio in Mexico), koya979/Adobe Stock (sombrero & moustache)
Audio By Carbonatix
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is many things, depending on who you ask: a loyal Trump ally, a “traitor” to immigrants, vice president JD Vance’s BFF, and a longtime UFO believer.
But one thing he is not — despite what a Fox News host suggested this week — is Mexican.
During a Tuesday episode of the roundtable Fox News show The Five, conservative political commentator and host Jesse Watters was describing members of President Donald Trump’s “crew of guys” — some of the key figures in his cabinet — when he said Rubio was “like your Mexican friend that works a lot, but is really funny.”
When news happens, Miami New Times is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If Miami New Times matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
Rubio, 54, was born and raised in Miami to Cuban parents.
A constant figure in right-wing politics who earned a zero out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard in 2022 thanks to his stalwart anti-LBGTQ and anti-choice voting record, Rubio served for nearly a decade as a Republican state legislator before being elected to U.S. Congress in 2010.
Despite his history of being relentlessly mocked by Trump (remember “little Marco”?), the president nominated Rubio for Secretary of State in November 2024, and the Senate confirmed him in January 2025.
People online were quick to fact-check and dunk on Watters’ comment about Rubio.
And naturally, Rubio caught a few strays too.
“Rubio is neither funny nor Mexican,” one person wrote in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“The fact that these idiots think Rubio is like your ‘funny Mexican friend’ tells me that they’ve never had a Mexican friend in their life,” another wrote.
“Rubio must really feel like a valued member of the team today,” a third quipped.
During the same segment, Watters offered similarly colorful descriptions of other Trump administration officials.
“Bobby is the guy you give stuff to see if he will yak,” he said, referring to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Pete’s the guy that likes to blow stuff up,” he continued, referring to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has ordered strikes killing dozens of people on boats in international waters over the past few months.
And then Watters added: ”Rubio is like your Mexican friend that works a lot, but is really funny. J.D. Vance is like the poor kid who is, like, really smart,” he said, referring to the vice president’s upbringing detailed in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy.
