Marco Rubio Sparks Brief Meme After Mistaking Late U.S. Reps Elijah Cummings For John Lewis

The world lost U.S. Representative John Lewis over the weekend at the age of 80. A leader of the Civil Rights movement who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Lewis was a beloved lawmaker to many around the country. However, as the tributes to the late congressman rolled in, Lewis' colleague Senator Marco Rubio seemed to forget what Lewis looked like. In his commemorative tweet about Lewis, honoring their relationship and Lewis' contributions, Rubio tweeted a picture of late Black lawmaker Elijah Cummings, who died in October 2019.

marco rubio's tweet about john lewis – which is now his profile pic – is a photo of elijah cummings. pic.twitter.com/S5N53I2tRI

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) July 18, 2020

Rubio quickly scrubbed the photo from his feed, correcting the error with a picture of Lewis and himself.

Earlier today I tweeted an incorrect photo

John Lewis was a genuine American hero

I was honored to appear together in Miami 3 years ago at an event captured in video below

My God grant him eternal resthttps://t.co/aEm4MxKxBP pic.twitter.com/0UpWSG3vNQ

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 18, 2020

The correction did not happen fast enough for Twitter users, who spent the rest of the evening posting pictures of other cultural figures, both real and fictional, and purposely mistaking them for Rubio. The parodies of Rubio's tweet became a meme over the weekend, with many making jokes about Rubio's mistake.

Why is everyone picking on Marco Rubio? He's a great guy. Very handsome too! pic.twitter.com/0OII0ysU7j

— Sara Spector (@Miriam2626) July 18, 2020

an honor to know Marco Rubio pic.twitter.com/lmKAdF4SeS

— Michael Tannenbaum (@iamTannenbaum) July 18, 2020

People, stop criticizing Marco Rubio. I've liked him ever since I bought his first album (below). pic.twitter.com/SV41G1S4C5

— JRehling (@JRehling) July 18, 2020

It was an honor to know Marco Rubio a genuine and historic American hero. pic.twitter.com/VJsEG4SsVM

— Andrew Weinstein (@Weinsteinlaw) July 18, 2020

I'm going to tell my grandchildren this was Marco Rubio. pic.twitter.com/BhPax35y9T

— Good Trouble ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 (@Leslieoo7) July 18, 2020

It is an honor and a blessing to know Senator Marco Rubio. pic.twitter.com/qzKfehh7MM

— 𝚔𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚗 (@KevINthe406) July 18, 2020

Rubio isn't the first person to mistake the two congressmen. CBS mistook John Lewis for Elijah Cummings last year when discussing Lewis' then-recent cancer diagnosis.

H/T Mashable