POLITICO Screen grab Marco Rubio's drinking problem

Twitter exploded during Sen. Marco Rubio’s Republican response to the State of the Union, as the Florida senator appeared a little sweaty and dry-mouthed at mid-speech, taking an awkward swig from a bottle of water that had been placed off-camera. Rubio handled the hullabaloo with some humor, later tweeting a picture of the water bottle.

( PHOTOS: Scenes from Obama State of the Union 2013)


Here’s a look at what watchers had to say on Twitter:

Oh Lord, I am thirsty now. #gulpgate Rubio was thirsting for fame and got hot and bothered with it all tonight. #Gulp #SOTU2013— Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) February 13, 2013

I blame climate change for Rubio’s unseasonal thirst.— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) February 13, 2013

Rubio - looking for a job as a bottled water spokesman, apparently.— Brad Woodhouse (@woodhouseb) February 13, 2013

Republicans. Sponsored by: water. Refreshing.— Marc Ambinder (@marcambinder) February 13, 2013

Now, if Rubio reached for a mojito that would have been awesome.— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) February 13, 2013

Rubio going the way of Jindal - just slightly more nervous and with a little bit more sweat.— Stephanie Cutter (@stefcutter) February 13, 2013

Jesus walked on water. Rubio drank it #saviors (ok, done)— Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) February 13, 2013

MT @ mmurraypolitics: Rubio is a very fine speaker, but tonight was a reminder why giving the SOTU response is a tough assignment— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 13, 2013

As I was saying… RT @ joshmcelveen Marco Rubio “These pretzels are making me thirsty.”— Garance Franke-Ruta (@thegarance) February 13, 2013

Rubio is generally a very, very good speaker. But that was not it.— Taegan Goddard (@politicalwire) February 13, 2013

Marco Rubio takes a panicked swig of water — again and again gifboom.com/x/99f8db90— Salon.com (@Salon) February 13, 2013

The Rubio water thing is the move that launched a 1,000 .gifs.— The Fix (@TheFix) February 13, 2013

Well delivered story telling for Rubio but at once sweating and thirsty. Did that happen in Spanish version?— Kelly O’Donnell (@KellyO) February 13, 2013

If Rubio had chugged a Shiner Bock instead of fru-fru bottled water, he might have my vote.— Paul Begala (@PaulBegala) February 13, 2013

Even Marco Rubio is playing Marco Rubio drinking games.— brad plumer (@bradplumer) February 13, 2013

Maybe TIME Mag was right about Rubio being a “savior.” John 19:28: “So that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I thirst.’”— Chris Moody (@Chris_Moody) February 13, 2013

Twiiter going off on Marco Rubio water bottle. Really dousing him— HowardKurtz (@HowardKurtz) February 13, 2013

Coming up next: exclusive interview w/ Marco Rubio’s water bottle.— Matt Mackowiak (@MattMackowiak) February 13, 2013

And Marco Rubio’s water moment has a hashtag: #gulpgate— Russell Schaffer (@RussOnPolitics) February 13, 2013

Good line ?RT @ grossdmYou’ve heard of arch-conservatives? Rubio is a parched-conservative. #sotu— EJ Dionne (@EJDionne) February 13, 2013

Rubio should auction the water bottle to some rich political dorks & donate the proceeds to charity. BOOM! I am a PR wizard.— Scott Conroy (@RealClearScott) February 13, 2013

“An equally impassioned drink of water that is trending on Twitter” [email protected] bwilliams on Marco Rubio’s drink during response— TODAY(@todayshow) February 13, 2013

Stay thirsty, Americans - Marco Rubio— Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) February 13, 2013

#GOPResponse #SOTU #gop #tcot twitter.com/marcorubio/sta…— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 13, 2013