Sen. Marco Rubio has finally broken the silence on his much ballyhooed “luxury speedboat.”
The Republican presidential hopeful sat down with Concerned Veterans for America CEO Pete Hegseth in Exeter, New Hampshire, on Thursday morning to talk about his campaign, but the conversation began with the recent New York Times report about his spending.
“Speaking of The New York Times, they did some groundbreaking reporting recently,” Hegseth said, drawing some laughter from the crowd.
“Apparently your family recently purchased a luxury speedboat. Now, I’ve seen a photo of this boat,” he said. “I’m from Minnesota, you guys are from New Hampshire, looked a little bit like a fishing boat to me. The veterans really want to know, why didn’t you buy a yacht large enough to land a Black Hawk on it?”
Rubio and the audience started laughing.
“Well the thing about the boat is, too, it is a luxury speedboat, but it is cleverly disguised as a fishing boat,” Rubio said sarcastically. “But the best answer I got is someone who emailed me or texted me and said, ‘Any boat where you have to go to the bathroom off the side of the boat is not a luxury speedboat.'”
His comments come after the Florida senator faced criticism earlier this month regarding his recent financial woes.
The New York Times first reported that he purchased an $80,000 “luxury speedboat” recently, after he’d publicly spoken about his debt. When it comes to cash, he is reported to be one of the poorest candidates in the GOP presidential field.