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Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio is U.S. secretary of state, confirmed by the Senate on Jan. 20, 2025; President Donald Trump named him to the post in November 2024. He was a U.S. senator from Florida who defeated U.S. Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., in 2022. Rubio ran for U.S. president in 2016 and then dropped out and won reelection to the Senate. Rubio was first elected to the Senate in 2010 and took office Jan. 5, 2011. Rubio served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008 and is a former speaker of the Florida House. He served on the West Miami City Commission from 1998 to 2000. He is from Miami and holds a law degree from the University of Miami.

Marco Rubio Website

Scorecard

true
0% 21 Checks
mostly true
0% 38 Checks
half true
0% 36 Checks
mostly false
0% 41 Checks
false
0% 32 Checks
Pants on Fire
0% 5 Checks
For more details, see the Principles of PolitiFact

Latest Fact-Checks By Marco Rubio

Clear
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on February 3, 2025 in a letter to Congress
On support for U.S. Agency for International Development
Full Flop
By Amy Sherman, Claire Cranford, Louis Jacobson • February 7, 2025
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on May 19, 2024 an interview
The number of people in the U.S. illegally is “upwards of 20, 25, maybe 30 million.”
False
By Maria Ramirez Uribe • June 11, 2024
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on April 11, 2024 an interview with Fox News
“It's very misleading when (President Biden) says (inflation) used to be at 9%. This is compounding. It’s not like it went down from 9% to 3%. This is building month after month. The better way to think about it is that it’s 18%, 19% over the last three years."
Half-True
By Louis Jacobson • April 17, 2024
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on March 3, 2024 an interview on "Fox News Sunday"
Joe Biden's executive orders meant "for the first time in American history we have a president who will not detain the people who enter this country illegally."
False
By Samantha Putterman • March 8, 2024
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on October 18, 2022 a campaign ad
Val Demings "voted with Pelosi to raise taxes over $4,000 on Florida families."
Mostly False
By Yacob Reyes • October 25, 2022
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on September 14, 2022 an ad
Val Demings "voted to allow transgender youth sports and teaching radical gender identity without parental consent."
Half-True
October 5, 2022
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on September 6, 2022 a tweet
"Val Demings supports abortion up until the moment of birth."
Mostly False
By Yacob Reyes • September 16, 2022
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on July 19, 2022 a campaign ad
Val Demings "called abolishing the police 'thoughtful.'"
False
By Yacob Reyes • July 26, 2022
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on May 25, 2022 an interview on CNN
“There hasn't been a single of these mass shootings that have been purchased at a gun show or on the internet.”
False
By Yacob Reyes • May 27, 2022
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on July 30, 2021 a tweet
Photos show Lloyd Austin without a face shield after he landed in the Philippines.
Mostly False
August 2, 2021
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on March 6, 2021 a tweet
In rejecting his amendment, “Democrats voted to send reopening money to schools that refuse to reopen.”
Half-True
By Jon Greenberg • March 9, 2021
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on January 27, 2021 remarks
"Only in the Third World do you see this habitual use of prosecutions of former leaders.”
False
By Miriam Valverde • January 29, 2021
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on January 22, 2021 a tweet
Says Joe Biden “has issued more executive fiats than anyone in such a short period of time, ever, more than Obama, more than Trump, more than anyone.”
True
By Miriam Valverde • January 27, 2021
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on December 27, 2020 a tweet
Says “Dr. Fauci lied about masks in March.”
False
By Jon Greenberg • December 28, 2020
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on April 20, 2020 a New York Times op-ed
“Face masks being manufactured in China, for example, went to domestic consumption and their own fight against the virus” while the U.S. was “largely unable to import supplies from China.”
Mostly False
By Amy Sherman • April 23, 2020
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on March 19, 2020 a tweet
For coronavirus cases “in the U.S. 38% of those hospitalized are under 35.”
Mostly False
By Amy Sherman • March 20, 2020
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on November 8, 2018 a tweet
"#Broward elections department has a history of violating the law."
Mostly True
By Amy Sherman • November 12, 2018
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on October 15, 2018 a gathering in West Miami of Ron DeSantis supporters
After Hurricane Hermine in 2016, Tallahassee "didn’t have power for weeks because (Mayor Andrew Gillum) stood in the way of crews being able to come in and restore power, because they weren’t members of the right union or something."
False
By Amy Sherman • October 16, 2018
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on August 2, 2018 an interview with CBS News
States "haven't even begun to spend the (election security) money they have now."  
Mostly False
By Jon Greenberg • August 3, 2018
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio
stated on February 22, 2018 a tweet
"Under N.Y. State ‘Assault Weapon’ ban 1 simple cosmetic change pictured here is difference between legal & banned"
True
By Dan Clark • February 28, 2018
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Latest Fact-Checks About Marco Rubio

Val Demings
Val Demings
stated on March 6, 2022 an ad
"Marco Rubio is following his party bosses, like Rick Scott, with his plan to raise taxes on Florida's working families, retirees and veterans."
False
March 9, 2022
National Association for Gun Rights
National Association for Gun Rights
stated on March 1, 2021 a Facebook post
"Marco Rubio's 'red flag' gun confiscation bill" calls for guns to be confiscated "without due process, based on unsubstantiated accusations."
Mostly False
March 4, 2021
Verified Politics
Verified Politics
stated on December 9, 2017 an article on a website
Says Marco Rubio tweeted a verse from the New Testament to shame "his own constituents for flocking to Trump rally."
False
By Amy Sherman • December 18, 2017
Marco Rubio's heckler
Marco Rubio's heckler
stated on August 22, 2017 during Sen. Marco Rubio's speech to Seminole County GOP
Says Marco Rubio took "three quarters of a million dollars from fossil fuel executives" during the 2016 Senate election.
Half-True
By Amy Sherman • August 29, 2017
Patrick Murphy
Patrick Murphy
stated on October 10, 2016 a TV ad
Says Marco Rubio "opposes immigration reform. Worse, Rubio supports Donald Trump. His plan would deport 800,000 children, destroying families."
Half-True
By Amy Sherman • October 17, 2016
AFSCME People
AFSCME People
stated on September 23, 2016 a TV ad
Says Marco Rubio "voted to slash school funding by billions of dollars and would eliminate the Department of Education."
Mostly True
By Amy Sherman • September 27, 2016
Patrick Murphy
Patrick Murphy
stated on September 20, 2016 a campaign ad
Says "Marco Rubio would take away a woman’s right to choose for victims of rape or incest."
Mostly True
By Joshua Gillin • September 23, 2016
Patrick Murphy
Patrick Murphy
stated on September 15, 2016 a campaign statement
Says Marco Rubio voted "against every bill that would have helped keep our families safe. He even voted against a bipartisan measure, introduced by a Republican, to prevent people on the no-fly list from purchasing guns."
Mostly False
By Amy Sherman • September 22, 2016
Senate Majority PAC
Senate Majority PAC
stated on September 14, 2016 a TV ad
Says "Marco Rubio wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare because he said they’re bankrupting our country."
Half-True
By Amy Sherman • September 16, 2016
NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice America
stated on September 6, 2016 a TV ad
"Marco Rubio voted against funding health clinics that provide critical care during this public health emergency (Zika)."
Mostly False
By Amy Sherman • September 8, 2016
Patrick Murphy
Patrick Murphy
stated on August 19, 2016 a post on his campaign website
Says Marco Rubio "voted against the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act."
True
By Joshua Gillin • August 24, 2016
Patrick Murphy
Patrick Murphy
stated on August 1, 2016 a campaign ad
Says "Marco Rubio didn’t show up" for a vote on his own bill on sanctions against Hezbollah.
Mostly False
By Louis Jacobson • August 4, 2016
Carlos Beruff
Carlos Beruff
stated on July 5, 2016 a statement to press
"Rather than work to secure the border, (Marco Rubio) supported Obama’s amnesty plan for illegal immigrants."  
Mostly False
By Amy Sherman • July 8, 2016
Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz
stated on November 21, 2015 a TV ad that ran mostly in Iowa
Says Donald Trump and Marco Rubio opposed Cruz’s "efforts to defund Planned Parenthood."
Mostly False
By Emma Hinchliffe • March 16, 2016
Donald Trump
Donald Trump
stated on March 7, 2016 a campaign ad
"As a legislator, (Marco Rubio) flipped on a key vote after making a quick $200,000 from selling the house to the mother of the bill's lobbyist."
Mostly False
By Aaron Sharockman, Joshua Gillin • March 11, 2016
Keep the Promise 1 PAC
Keep the Promise 1 PAC
stated on March 6, 2016 a TV ad
Says Marco Rubio "skipped 18 defense votes including one to arm the Kurds to fight ISIS."  
Half-True
By Amy Sherman • March 8, 2016
Right to Rise
Right to Rise
stated on March 1, 2016 a television ad.
Like Marco Rubio, Sen. Barack Obama had "one of the worst attendance records in the Senate."
True
By C. Eugene Emery Jr. • March 8, 2016
Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz
stated on February 15, 2016 an interview on Fox News
Says Marco Rubio "went on Univision, and in Spanish he promised that he would not on the first day in office rescind President Obama's illegal executive action."  
Half-True
By Amy Sherman • February 17, 2016
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton
stated on January 4, 2016 a posting on the Clinton website
"Marco Rubio voted against authorizing President Obama to strike Syria after Assad used chemical weapons on his own people."
Mostly True
By C. Eugene Emery Jr. • January 7, 2016
Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz
stated on December 15, 2015 a Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas
"One of the most troubling aspects of the Rubio-Schumer Gang of Eight bill was that it gave President Obama blanket authority to admit refugees, including Syrian refugees, without mandating any background checks whatsoever."
False
By Joshua Gillin • December 18, 2015
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