Marco Rubio DJing and entertaining masks deteriorating Trump admin crisis: analysis
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has fueled speculation about whether he's planning to launch a 2028 presidential bid after he was seen DJing at a family wedding and entertaining reporters with rap lyrics, an analyst reported on Saturday.
The Atlantic's Matt Viser described how Rubio's disposition and recent activities have raised questions over his future plans while Trump's cabinet manages a series of controversies and challenges, including President Donald Trump's ongoing Iran war, an affordability crisis and concerns over how the GOP will fare in the midterm elections.
"It’s a low bar, perhaps, but no one in the Trump administration seems to be having more fun at the moment than Marco Rubio," Viser wrote. "Last weekend, he was acting as a DJ at a family wedding, headphones to his ear with head and hand pumping to the beat. Midweek, the secretary of state was at the podium in the White House briefing room, spitting rap lyrics and cracking jokes. (“Two more questions!” he said, before entertaining seven more.) And toward the end of the week, he was in Vatican City, being escorted through marble hallways by members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard for an audience with Pope Leo XIV, who has been criticized by the president and vice president."
Despite the problems ahead for the Trump administration, Rubio "comes across as the happy warrior, not the angry one—the one offering lighthearted jokes more than brash confrontation," Viser explained.
"But Rubio—the guy who once became a meme because of the way he sat uncomfortably on an Oval Office couch, looking exhausted with his many jobs—suddenly looks joyful and light," Viser wrote. "He seemed to be everywhere all at once this week, followed by a hum and then a buzz of: Hmm, he sure looks like he’s running in 2028."
Rubio has not yet confirmed his plans — or what his closed-door conversations with the president or pope were like.
"Would there be a phone call between the pope and the president anytime soon? 'Um, I don’t know. Maybe? I don’t know. I mean, it could happen,'" Viser added. "By the end of the week, it was clear: The same could be said about a 2028 presidential run."