Robot Rubio? GOP Candidate Criticized For Mechanically Repeating Rhetoric, Again [VIDEO]

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio seemed a little low on oil again on Monday at rally on New Hampshire on Monday. Criticized for repeating talking points about Barack Obama in a recent GOP debate, Rubio again got stuck on repeat again Monday, in a seemingly mechanical repetition of pithy stump phrases. Maybe he was just tired. Presidential campaigns are long and hard and candidates often have to give a similar speech five or six times in a single day.

With New Hampshire voters head to the polls on Tuesday, those lapses could hit Rubio. Rubio wasn’t expected to win -- Trump is 20 points ahead in the polls -- but has been in a virtual tie with rivals Sen. Ted Cruz and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Rubio has tried to brush off the repetitions as emphasis.With demonstrators reportedly attending polling stations dressed as robots, with the #robotrubio meme hurt him in the ballot box today?

Take a look at how the Robot Rubio meme got started. A transcript of Monday’s rally speech, which we got from the Washington Post, shows at least three repetitions that you can hear in the video below. “Raising children in the 21st century”, “instilling values,” and that GOP cliche “ram down our throats” are each repeated twice. We’ve added formatting to the quote to show which parts are repeated where.

“We are taking our message to families that are struggling to raise their children in the 21st Century, because as you saw, Jeanette and I are raising our four children in the 21st Century . And we know how hard it's become to instill our values in our kids instead of the values they try to ram down our throats . In the 21st Century, it's become harder than ever to instill in your children the values they teach in our homes and in our church, instead of the values that they try to ram down our throats in the movies, in music and in popular culture."

If you’re curious how awkward this sounds in person, check out the video.

Here’s the original robot Rubio moment from the last GOP debate. Gov. Christie calls him on the talking points right after, and it's brutal.