'Marcobot' Rubio razzed for rote lines in Republican debate

U.S. Republican presidential hopeful, Marco Rubio faced online mockery after repeating a similar point over and over and over again at Saturday's Republican debate in New Hampshire.

CBC News Posted: Feb 07, 2016 4:09 PM EST | Last Updated: February 7, 2016

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio speaks during the Republican debate sponsored by ABC News at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire February 6, 2016. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

Marco Rubio may have exposed a glitch in the Matrix, during Saturday's Republican candidates debate in Manchester, N.H.

The U.S. Republican senator and presidential hopeful has been riding highsince his strong third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, prompting his campaign to coin the term "Marcomentum."

But since last night'sdebate ahead of the New Hampshire primary,a new term has been coined: "Marcobot."

It may have been all the pressure on the young Florida senator, or it may have been the heat (he was looking pretty sweaty), but either way,Rubio started repeating a practiced attack on U.S. PresidentBarack Obama over, and over again.

Eventually fellow Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie, jumped in, calling Rubio out for the robotic repetition.

It wasn't pretty.

Chris Christie hammers Marco Rubio over sticking to talking points

9 years ago

1:07

'There it is! His 25-second memorized speech, there it is everybody!'

Some were concerned itmight be aglitch.

"Thoughts & prayers w/ Marco Rubio's programmers that they can fix the glitch in his data base before it overheats from repetition."
-Micha
—@orrgroup

Speculation began to build on Twitter that Rubiomightactually be a robot.

rubio bot is loose
rubio bot is loosehttps://t.co/CZ7PogbHXm
—@owillis

I'm hearing that Rubio's CD-ROM drive was jammed; kept opening and closing repeatedly when they tried to change disks
—@Nate_Cohn

Some compared his peculiar anticsto the cult classic"The Stepford Wives."

Watching Marco Rubio do his best Stepford Wives impression was fun, but I prefer the original. #GOPDebate https://t.co/hzVJQ028Tb
—@mattafowler

He got plenty of Matrix comparisons as well.

Lol!! Watch Marco Rubio's Glitch in the Matrix https://t.co/Ur1anLvFbY on YouTube. via Bing @marcorubio @hmatkin
—@BrandonSchall

Soon a parody account @RubioGlitch was born.

As I was saying, this notion Obama doesn't know what he's doing is pure fiction. He knows exactly what he is doing.
—@RubioGlitch

Powerful and moving. pic.twitter.com/jwKibFZR37
—@RubioGlitch

My closing statement:

Citizens, this notion that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing is fiction.

He knows exactly what he's doing.
—@RubioGlitch

It probably wasn't good for his image. Good for his image. Good for his image. Good for

"GLITCH"? Way more than that..foundation of @marcorubio "allure" just came smashing down! Many thought he was smart https://t.co/nyn31KI1jC
—@EBOlady

His odd behaviour is evendrawing comparisons with another famous election-timegaffe.

Will the Marco Rubio Glitch turn out to be this election's 'binders full of women'?! ... Stay tuned! ... or I dunno, go read a novel.
—@RottenInDenmark

And robo-Rubio wasn't even the most awkward part of the night.

Republican debate's awkward opening