“The 50-year embargo just hasn't worked,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told a radio show Thursday. Later in the interview, he said, “In the end, I think, probably, opening up Cuba is probably a good idea."

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) does not agree with him. “I don’t care if the polls say that 99 percent of people believe we should normalize relations in Cuba," he told Fox News on Wednesday. "I don’t care if 99 percent of people in polls disagree with my position. This is my position, and I feel passionately about it."

A day later, he addressed Rand Paul's position head on, again, on Fox News. “Like many people who have been opining, he has no idea what he’s talking about.”

Paul, of course, could not let the insult go unanswered, and began tweeting at @marcorubio.

Hey @marcorubio if the embargo doesn't hurt Cuba, why do you want to keep it? — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 19, 2014

Senator @marcorubio is acting like an isolationist who wants to retreat to our borders and perhaps build a moat. I reject this isolationism. — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 19, 2014

The joke here? Sen. Paul is usually the elected official most likely to be accused of being an isolationist.



Source: Time



Source: CNN

The United States trades and engages with other communist nations, such as China and Vietnam. So @marcorubio why not Cuba? — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 19, 2014

.@marcorubio what about the majority of Cuban-Americans who now support normalizing relations between our countries? http://t.co/0qhSOeD9Va — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 19, 2014

The Internet watched and reached one conclusion. Rand Paul is preparing to be 2016's Twitter troll.

Does anyone likely running in 2016 understand social media media–including how to troll–better than Rand Paul? https://t.co/WMT1j2yeNb — Garance Franke-Ruta (@thegarance) December 19, 2014

@moody Mad elevated troll game @SenRandPaul — Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 19, 2014

The Trolling Primary may not be a perfect way to vet presidents, but it beats the Fundraising Primary. Let's keep it. #trollingprimary — Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) December 19, 2014

Rand Paul, Twitter troll. — Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) December 19, 2014

@SenRandPaul @marcorubio Senator Rand Paul is seriously trolling Sen. Rubio. How will this end? and who will win? I'm betting on HRC #2016 — Cindy Adams (@Silicon5) December 19, 2014

It's exciting to see the potential presidential candidates working on building their #brand so early in the game. We can only imagine that the content created by 2016 contenders is going to be the greatest we have ever seen!