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Marco Rubio has a lot of jobs. Now, he has 68 more.
The White House gave the secretary of state a gold-framed collage for his 55th birthday featuring dozens of versions of the viral “Rubio realizing” meme that has transformed President Donald Trump’s top diplomat into everything from an Iranian ayatollah to an astronaut.
At the center of the 68-panel mosaic is the original, unaltered photograph of Rubio slumped on a couch in the Oval Office earlier this year, signed by Trump in gold ink with a presidential endorsement: “You are great.”
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President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington, D.C., to sign a preliminary agreement on sharing Ukraine’s mineral resources. Trump said the agreement will allow America to recoup aid provided to Kyiv while supporting Ukraine’s economy. (Getty Images)
Around it is a resume that rivals Barbie’s.
There’s Rubio as Robocop, Rubio as an astronaut, Rubio as the White House Easter Bunny, Cardinal Rubio preparing for a papal conclave, Rubio bundled up as the leader of Greenland, and one where Rubio holds up a sign that says, “Please stop making memes about me.”
The White House presented Rubio with the collage in May, but the gift only came to wider attention this week after Axios reporter Marc Caputo shared a photo of it on X.
While nearly 70 imaginary gigs may sound excessive, the joke lands particularly well for a Cabinet official who has already accumulated an unusually high number of real ones.
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Vice President JD Vance speaks during a meeting with President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Trump and Zelensky are meeting to negotiate a preliminary agreement on sharing Ukraine’s mineral resources that Trump says will allow America to recoup aid provided to Kyiv while supporting Ukraine’s economy. (Getty Images)
Rubio serves as secretary of state as well as acting national security advisor, and previously pulled double duty as acting archivist and acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The internet also appears to have decided Rubio could handle a few more.
The meme began with a decidedly more serious moment on Feb. 28, 2025, when Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Rubio and other administration officials met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.
A photograph from the contentious meeting captured Rubio sitting low on a couch, his hands interlocked and an expression on his face that the internet quickly interpreted as a man coming to an uncomfortable realization.
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Then came the heavily-Photoshopped memes. As major jobs opened, in reality or otherwise, Rubio kept getting hired.
When Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro was captured, meme Rubio appeared dressed to take over the country. When Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced he would not seek re-election, Rubio turned up in blaze-orange hunting gear, shotgun included.
Rubio has acknowledged that he wasn’t initially thrilled with the photograph that launched it all.
“The meme thing, you know, was interesting, ’cause when it first came out, I hated that picture,” Rubio recently told Lara Trump on ‘ “My View.”
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President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28, 2025, to sign a preliminary agreement on sharing Ukraine’s mineral resources. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also attended the meeting. (Getty Images)
Rubio explained that the Oval Office couch was partly to blame.
“If you don’t have a pillow behind your back, you kinda sink,” he said.
But the secretary of state eventually surrendered to the court of public opinion.
“And then it turned into this other thing and it was fine, and it’s funny,” Rubio said.
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He also revealed that Scavino had turned the online frenzy into something framed forever.
“Dan Scavino made a nice board for me,” Rubio said. “And even since he made that board, we had to update it.”
Which raises an obvious problem — Rubio may already need a bigger frame.
The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to Digital’s requests for comment.
