Florida has been at the center of American politics over the last week. Despite the fact that Election Day was on Nov. 6, neither the race for Florida’s governorship nor its race for Bill Nelson’s seat in the United States Senate have been decided. Both have gone to recounts, with Democrats Nelson and Andrew Gillum narrowly behind Republicans Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis, respectively, in their races.
It’s not unusual for Florida to be a hotbed for debate regarding American elections, but that’s especially been the case this week. The recounts in both races have led to numerous debates about how we approach voting in the United States, as Republicans have done whatever they can to stop or limit recounts, whereas Democrats have done everything in their power to make sure every vote that was cast in the state gets counted.
There is a long post that someone — likely someone who follows this stuff far more closely than my general interest in the subject — can write about the disregard for voting rights in the United States and how a healthy democracy should encourage all of its citizens to be involved in the electoral process by making it as easy to vote as possible, but instead, I’d rather talk about a tweet from Marco Rubio.
If you haven’t been following along with Rubio since his run for president in 2016, he is now the Republican Party’s most prominent voice (outside of Donald Trump, that is) pushing that something sinister is occurring in Florida. He has been throwing together Twitter threads on the subject with the hopes of expressing his discontent and riling up conservatives about Gillum and Nelson wanting votes to be counted.
On Tuesday, Rubio (or, perhaps, a social media person he employs) started out one of these threads with this tweet.
Imagine if NFL team was trailing 24-22 but in final seconds hits a 3 pt kick to win. Then AFTER game lawyers for losing team get a judge to order rules changed so that last second field goals are only 1 point
Well that’s how democrat lawyers plan to steal #Florida election 1/4
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 14, 2018
Again, the political side of this is for someone else to discuss — like this guy — but the football analogy here is baffling. No one in the history of humanity has ever described kicking a field goal as “hits a 3 pt kick.” It’s called a field goal. You “make” or “kick” it. This isn’t even like a universally-accepted synonym for the action of kicking a field goal, like “boots it through the uprights” or something. It’s like if, say, a politician tried talking about basketball and called the hoop a “basketball ring.”
The most likely outcome here is that whomever posts for Rubio, whether himself or a staffer, decided that a not insignificant amount of people don’t know the rules of football, and that saying “kicks a field goal to try and win a game that was 24-22” would have been not relatable enough. As such, they determined pulling a Big Shaq and laying it out so folks could do quick maths was a better approach.
This, however, was not the case when Rubio ran for president in 2016, as he put together an entire ad that was entirely focused on his love for football — a sport which he played on scholarship when he attended Tarkio College in Missouri. It involves him catching footballs at various speeds in color and in black and white, and on occasion, discussing his love of the Miami Dolphins.
Rubio also is well-known football poster, as he has tweeted about the NFL and college football a lot.
Btw dolphins new QB Thigpen is closest thing to Tebow in the NFL.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) October 11, 2009
Can't believe my Dolphins choose Culpepper over Brees. Good call Saban!!
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 8, 2010
New Miami Dolphins Nike Uniform pic.twitter.com/Cz86i661 unveiled today
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 3, 2012
@miamidolphins fans worried about losing Reggie Bush. Look out for @jgray_ND25 in 2013. You heard it here first! #nfl
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 17, 2013
I actually like the new @MiamiDolphins logo. pic.twitter.com/vvCMKWux1K
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 28, 2013
Ummm…. Remind me again why @MiamiDolphins let Reggie Bush go.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 28, 2013
Let's go Gators "who's gonna run this town tonight"?(we are yeah i said it we are).
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) October 25, 2009
A four-team #collegefootball #playoff is approved, restoring balance to the universe! http://t.co/2oANy0dL #sayfie #bcs #football #gators
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 27, 2012
Wow! Lots of #Gator haters among the tweeple tonight. College football is nastier than politics.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 25, 2012
He, like many fans of the non-New England Patriots teams in the AFC East, really does not seem to like Tom Brady.
Really like the pick of Dion Jordan by @MiamiDolphins. Only way to beat Tom Brady is when he is on his back. #nfl #nfldraft #miamidolphins
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 26, 2013
Harder to get – Tom Brady’s texts or Hillary Clinton’s emails?https://t.co/mRpPGn7LOX
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 15, 2015
Because Dolphins have played him twice a year for 15 years I have seen this movie before. Brady is very good in these situations.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 6, 2017
That was a sack of Brady with evil intentions
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 6, 2017
Atlanta, you now know what this Brady guy has done to me and my Dolphins for 15 years.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 6, 2017
When someone can place a throw in these tight windows like Brady is now doing, nothing a defense can do
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 6, 2017
Plus he coaches the sport and famously once hit a kid with a football while campaigning in Iowa, though in fairness to him that young man has to be an athlete and make a play on that dang ball even if it wasn’t a perfect throw. What I’m saying here is that he knows that “hits a 3 pt kick” is a phrase no one has ever used, and it is my sincere hope no one ever refers to it as such earnestly again.