Marco Rubio says an awkward encounter with Mick Jagger was orchestrated by the newly appointed US ambassador to India, Sergio Gor.
The Secretary of State had made it clear to Gor not to mention his name to The Rolling Stones' frontman, who Rubio says is "not an enormous fan" of the president. But Gor mentioned Rubio to Jagger anyway, and the pair ended up meeting one another in a London restaurant during Donald Trump's state visit to the UK in September.
Rubio said, "All of a sudden this guy walks in. I'm like, 'Oh my God, that's Mick Jagger. And Sergio's like, 'I'm going go up to him. I'm going to get his picture. I go, 'Don't go up to him.' I looked it up online immediately — he's not like an enormous fan of the president."
"So, I'm like, 'Sergio, this might be really bad. We're in the guy's country. He's a legend in this country. I mean, I don't know how he's going react.'"
But Jagger, who was sat just two tables away from Rubio and Gor, reacted pleasantly enough to the Republican Party members approaching him for a photo. Rubio had a clear instruction for Gor, which the ambassador to India didn't make good on.
Rubio said, "OK, whatever you do, don't mention me — he doesn't even know who I am. And if he knows who I am, it isn't because he likes me. All of sudden I hear: 'Marco Rubio would love to meet you. He's sitting right over there.'" The pair were then introduced, and the Wild Horses hitmaker "couldn't have been nicer," according to Rubio's recollection.
While the awkward interaction between the pair may have had Rubio worried about Jagger's reaction, it proved to him, apparently, that Gor would "be a good ambassador" for the Trump administration.
Trump has since weighed in on Gor as the newly appointed ambassador. He said, "Some people, when they don't like Sergio, they don't like him. But when they like him, they like him more than anybody. But most of them really are in the 'like' category."