About

"Little Marco" is a derogatory nickname given to Marco Rubio by Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican Presidential Primary. The nickname gained notoriety after Trump used it in the 11th GOP debate, followed by an incident where Rubio sat in a giant chair.

Origin

Trump had repeatedly referred Rubio's size at rallies throughout his campaign.^[1] However, at the 11th GOP Debate in Detroit, Michigan on March 3th, 2016, Rubio and Trump began arguing over their views on employment, and Trump referred to Rubio as "This Little Guy" (1:40 in the below video). Rubio responded to the insult (minute 4:00 below), and they continue to argue; at the end of his response, the moderator proposes to ask another policy question. Rubio responds "let's see if he answers it!" to which Trump says, "Don't worry little Marco, I will," (4:48 below).

Spread

After the debate, #LittleMarco immediately took off as a hashtag^[2]. Reporters like Sabrina Siddiqui tweeted about the nickname, and the online publication Slate claimed that American had just been "introduced" to "Little Marco." The hashtag received a substantial boost from Trump himself, who used it when he tweeted on March 5th that he believed that Fox News was favoring Rubio.

On March 4th, 2016, redditor rareunlimited submitted a photo of Marco Rubio sitting in a giant chair to the /r/PsBattle subreddit, where it gained 3,482 points (91% upvoted) and 216 responses.

The photo was originally taken by Elizabeth Frantz and published by the Concord Monitor when Rubio visited a furniture store in New Hampshire in August, 2015. The photoshops began to circulate through Twitter, Imgur, and elsewhere, eventually gaining attention from blogs like Gizmodo.

Various Examples

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