Marco Rubio Skipping SOTU over Coronavirus Testing Mandate: ‘I Only Take a Test if I’m Sick’

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is reportedly skipping President Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday evening due to the coronavirus testing mandate, telling a reporter, “I only take a test if I’m sick.”

“I don’t have time to go take a COVID test today. I only take a test if I’m sick,” Rubio said, according to HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic. The senator’s office reportedly confirmed Rubio’s position to the Hill as well:

Rubio says he won’t attend Biden’s State of the Union address tomorrow because of the COVID testing requirement.

“I don’t have time to go take a COVID test today. I only take a test if I’m sick,” he says

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) February 28, 2022

Rubio is among those who have pointed to the absurdity of certain coronavirus mandates and restrictions.

“For the first time in American history you now have people having to produce paper to go in somewhere, to sit somewhere, to go to the State of the Union,” Rubio said during his Friday speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida.

“You’ve got to show them I’m vaccinated, I took a test yesterday, they took my temperature, you know, all this stuff. This is, what’s happening now in America, is what happens after 20 years of infusing this Marxist thought process into every aspect of our lives and now we’ve come face-to-face with it,” Rubio added.

Rubio’s decision follows the Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives having a sudden change of heart and dropping its long-held mask requirement two days before Biden’s address. It has been in place since July 28. 

“The Washington DC region is now in the ‘green level’ or low level in this new CDC schema allowing for reduction in coronavirus prevention measures such as coronavirus testing frequency and indoor mask wearing,” Attending Physician Dr. Brian Monahan wrote in the update. 

Conveniently, the White House also announced that it is lifting its mask mandate on Tuesday— the day of Biden’s address. This seems to correspond with the dismal poll numbers Democrats are seeing on this particular issue.