Florida Senator and Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio has been taking a lot of guff over his choice in footwear lately, but now it appears that some good may actually come from the firestorm of controversy that his Florsheim boots ignited. That stylish choice in footwear may have uncovered a deep well of insecurity among Republican presidential candidates, but it also sparked the most adorable meet-cute in cable news history.
On Wednesday’s Morning Joe, former Florida Governor and Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush followed his SuperPAC’s defilement of Nancy Sinatra with a riff about Rubio’s youth and stature, with an assist from host Joe Scarborough. The result, though, was more like the trailer for a bromantic comedy than a political attack. After some coy banter about cowboy boots and flirty nicknames, Bush actually made Scarborough giggle with a reference to his “height”:
Joe Scarborough: But Jeb, do you own any platform boots that make you taller?
Jeb Bush: I’ve got my cowboy boots on, Big Joe. Rocky Carroll.
Joe Scarborough: do they make you three inches taller or are they normal cowboy boots?
Jeb Bush: I don’t have a height issue.
Eugene Robinson: This is Gene Robinson from the Washington Post.
Jeb Bush: Gene, let me make it clear here, I’m height challenged. My wife tells me there’s an inverse relationship between height and intelligence. So I’m struggling.
It’s just a shame you can’t snap a towel through a double-box.
A lot of guys would be too insecure to engage in this kind of behavior, but Bush and Scarborough are confident enough in their masculinity that they can flirt about how “tall” they are and how they wear cowboy boots when they aren’t cowboys. That’s what real men do, constantly point out how tall they are and engage in macho cosplay. Maybe Jeb can get Big Joe a fireman’s coat for his birthday.
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