Marco Rubio’s infamous rebuttal moment with a water bottle may have found a competitor from the other side of the aisle on Tuesday night. Representative Joe Kennedy III gave the Democratic response to Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address, hitting back at the policies laid out by Trump and setting the stage for the year to come. But many paid no attention to Kennedy’s words during the rebuttal and were far more interested in what was going on with the side of his mouth.
https://twitter.com/EoinHiggins_/status/958546603132014592
https://twitter.com/EoinHiggins_/status/958547093894893569
Most are crediting some overzealous chapstick use for the look, coupled with the lighting in the setting chosen for the response. Others thought it was just some drool that managed to make its way out. No matter the reason, it became a point for Trump supporters to hang onto and gave us a slim viral moment at the close of the night — though some might disagree.
Congrats to Joe Kennedy on getting through the Kobayashi Maru of American politics without creating any memes.
— Matt Ford (@fordm) January 31, 2018
Others didn’t see it that way and shared their own takes:
congrats to @glossier on landing joe kennedy as a brand ambassador pic.twitter.com/B9oj18piIG
— Kate Aronoff (@KateAronoff) January 31, 2018
Joe Kennedy before this speech pic.twitter.com/15BlvjuA2W
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 31, 2018
https://twitter.com/FreddieCampion/status/958554132289224705
https://twitter.com/moorehn/status/958548019019964417
Marco Rubio had dry-mouth during his #SOTU response in 2013.
Joe Kennedy has drool-mouth. pic.twitter.com/7DUVnfcIJJ
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) January 31, 2018
https://twitter.com/edstetzer/status/958547161133797377
Luckily for Kennedy, the actual substance of his speech received a lot of praise and seemed to be a vast improvement over what was presented one year ago by the Democratic party:
https://twitter.com/LarryWebsite/status/958085448806658049
Some had criticized for going with another Kennedy, but it seemed to play well with supporters:
https://twitter.com/moorehn/status/958552901420544000
Joe Kennedy’s speech was quite good, showing some of the signs of JFK’s oratory and EMK’s passion. And proving why he’s a rising star.
— Matt Viser (@mviser) January 31, 2018
Also, any mention of Kennedy’s shiny lips could easily be discredited with observations like this:
https://twitter.com/jordanzakarin/status/958548070718951424
So is it better than Marco Rubio’s insatiable thirst? Probably not, but it was a highlight after a marathon speech from the president.
