Marco Rubio supporters in New Hampshire on Tuesday manhandled a protester dressed as a robot — a mocking reference to the Florida senator’s repetitive remarks in Saturday’s GOP presidential debate.
The protester approached a crowd of Rubio supporters in Manchester about 7:30 a.m. as the state’s residents were voting in the nation’s first primary, but was stopped by a supporter who used a large Rubio sign to push him away, Boston’s WBZ TV reported.
Then a second supporter grabbed the robot — identified as Eddie Vale, vice president of the progressive PAC American Bridge — and pulled him backwards before knocking him to the ground.
“Why do you have your hands on me? Look at all these cameras,” the bespectacled Vale asked as the crowd began loudly chanting, “Marco! Marco!”
In a YouTube video, another man can be heard telling the Rubio supporters to stop harassing the protester, who is joined by another man in a robot suit with the sign saying, “Rubio Talking Point 3000.”
“On ground after they shoved me over pic,” Vale tweeted, using the #RobotRubio hashtag under the name @evail72.
“Team Rubio can shove us, but robots still rocking on FOX,” he tweeted later.
During Saturday’s debate, Rubio repeated the same attack line against President Obama four times, prompting New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to mockingly interrupt him.
“There it is! The memorized 25-second speech,” Christie cracked.