‘Just Pathetic’: Rubio Thinks He’s Cracking a Harmless Joke, Goes One Step Too Far, Reveals the Degrading Thing He Does Around Trump — and Viewers Can’t Look Away
Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to think he was sharing a throwaway moment from life aboard Air Force One with President Donald Trump. What emerged was something closer to an accidental confession, exposing the quiet discomfort of a senior official constantly managing how he’s perceived.
In an interview with New York Magazine, Rubio described the peculiar tension of long overseas flights with his 79-year-old boss, where the usual stressors of travel barely register. The problem wasn’t turbulence or jet lag — it was the unspoken expectation that no one around Trump should ever appear tired, idle, or anything resembling “weak.”
Rubio admitted he needs rest on long international flights, which is not exactly a scandal. He’s juggling an unusually bloated portfolio: Secretary of State, acting national security adviser, acting national archivist, and the point man for Venezuela’s post–Nicolás Maduro transition. But on Air Force One, needing sleep is apparently a character flaw.
“There’s an office with two couches, and I usually want to sleep on one of those two couches,” Rubio said. “But what I do is I cocoon myself in a blanket. I cover my head. I look like a mummy.”
According to Washington correspondent Ben Terris, Rubio physically demonstrated the move, “mimed pulling a blanket over his body as if he were auditioning for a Snuggie commercial.”
The reason for it all is Trump himself.
“And I do that because I know that at some point on the flight, he’s going to emerge from the cabin and start prowling the hallways to see who is awake,” Rubio explained. “I want him to think it’s a staffer who fell asleep. I don’t want him to see his secretary of State sleeping on a couch and think, Oh, this guy is weak.”
That’s the joke Rubio tried to tell. The punchline, though, landed with a thud as the most powerful diplomat in the country had admitted to hiding under a blanket so his boss didn’t judge him for needing a nap. To critics, that alone was absurd.
“He’s even more pathetic than I originally thought,” another said.
Another voice couldn’t believe what they just read, “Lots of comments comparing this story to @theonion. If it was from The Onion it’d be funny. Instead it’s just weird and pathetic. (Much like Rubio.)
“This is a grown man, hiding like a child. The US Secretary of State,” wrote another with a shaking head emoji.
But Rubio also casually confirmed what many aides and allies have been saying for years: Trump doesn’t sleep on these trips, and he doesn’t want anyone else to, either.
Others have framed the behavior as Trump’s superpower. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called Trump “absolutely tireless” in an October interview with Fox News. “I know somebody made a comment on the plane, you know, [that] he goes on these long trips, these long plane rides, doesn’t sleep, he’s working throughout those flights, hits the ground running and gets directly to business,” she said.
CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins said she’s heard the same thing.
“I had this source who said you never want to be on Air Force One on a trip,” Collins previously told podcaster Jason Tartick. “He doesn’t sleep on these trips. And like, you’re going to Asia or something, and that’s kind of the only time you’re going to sleep before you go on this trip, but Trump is just always up and talking, and he’ll like have them go and wake staff up if they’re asleep because he wants to talk to them.”
That behavior might help explain why Trump has been seen drifting off during meetings and public events. When asked about those moments, Rubio waved it off. “It’s a listening mechanism,” he told New York Magazine.
That explanation did not exactly reassure critics.
“Sleep disturbances are common in the elderly,” one critic wrote on X. “Also, people with Alzheimer’s have abnormal sleep patterns. I wish people would stop treating his lack of sleep as a sign of virility. It is not. It is also likely why he is so somnolent during the day.”
“Why is it a sign of strength that Trump never sleeps?” one asked. “It’s actually really, really bad. It leads to early death. Sleep is one of the most important things you can do to have good health.”
Sleep deprivation — whether short-term or chronic — can seriously affect cognitive and physical health, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Adults are generally advised to get seven to nine hours a night. Chronic sleep loss has been linked to heart disease, impaired judgment, memory problems, and early mortality. Experts estimate that between 50 million and 70 million adults in the U.S. meet the medical criteria for sleep deprivation at any given time.
During Trump’s first term, then–White House physician Ronny Jackson estimated that Trump slept at most four or five hours a night. Now, at 79, that pattern is being treated by allies as proof of toughness rather than alarm.
Rubio’s episode inadvertently showed sleeplessness is a loyalty test in Trump’s White House.
Rubio is expected to face lawmakers this week to discuss Venezuela’s future and his unprecedented accumulation of power inside the administration. He’ll arrive armed with a three-phase plan and plenty of confidence.
Whether he shows up after good night’s sleep is another question entirely.