Marco Rubio says he 'hated' this photo from viral Oval Office meme

Saman Shafiq, USA TODAYMon, August 3, 2026 at 5:33 PM UTC

0

Marco Rubio initially was not a fan of the viral meme showing him slouching on a sofa in the Oval Office during a tense meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; however, his tune has changed.

"The meme thing, it was interesting because when it first came out, I hated that picture," the secretary of state told Lara Trump, the wife of Eric Trump, on a July 28 episode of Fox News' "My View with Lara Trump." "Because what happened is in that couch, if you don’t have a pillow behind your back, you kind of sink. I looked at the picture; I said, 'Oh, this is terrible.' I looked like, whatever."

Rubio, 55, said the picture evolved into a meme and "it was fine, and it’s funny."

"I don’t really follow it very closely, but people have shown me pictures out there," Rubio said, adding his "good friend" at the White House, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, even "made a nice board for me" from the picture. In fact, that board has gotten several times with more pictures, Rubio said, "so that stuff is funny."

The February 2025 photo of Rubio, who is seated beside Vice President JD Vance, is frequently doctored as a meme or resurfaced when Rubio makes headlines.

DJ Rubio

Earlier this year in May, Rubio went viral for DJing at a family wedding.

Advertisement

The video, posted on X by Scavino on May 2, showed Rubio wearing headphones and working a DJ controller as guests danced and cheered nearby.

"Moments ago… our great Secretary of State DJ’s weddings too," Scavino wrote in the post, which quickly spread across social media.

Responses to the video ranged from amused to incredulous, with some users joking that Rubio may add DJ to his résumé, meanwhile others shared memes and edited clips imagining him performing in clubs.

Later, during a May 6 White House news briefing, when Rubio was asked about what his DJ name would be, he joked: "You're not ready for my DJ name."

Contributing: Anthony Thompson, USA TODAY

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@usatodayco.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Marco Rubio says he 'hated' this photo from viral Oval Office meme

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”