New · U.S. Politics · Congress · 5 outlets (L 5 · C 0 · R 0)
Rubio spent over $1.2 million in taxpayer-funded flights to son's football games
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spent more than $1.2 million in taxpayer money on government flights to Gainesville, Florida, according to a Washington Post analysis of flight records.[2, 3, 4] Rubio has flown to the University of Florida's home at least 23 times on government aircraft since taking office last year, including at least 10 Gators football games.[2, 3, 5] The State Department confirmed the travel, which included use of a military C-37 jet.[3, 5]
Rubio's son Anthony is a walk-on running back for the Gators.[5] Ethics watchdogs have questioned the necessity of the secretary of state flying between Washington, DC, and Gainesville so often.[4] MS NOW noted that several cabinet secretaries in Donald Trump's first term faced controversies over taxpayer-financed travel.[1]
Why it matters Ethics watchdogs have questioned the necessity of the frequent government-funded travel.[4]
Covered by The Guardian, MS NOW, Raw Story and 2 more
Read first How Much Taxpayers Paid So Marco Rubio Could Go to Football Games
How balanced is this coverage?
Of the 5 rated outlets that covered it, 5 are left of center, 0 are center and 0 are right of center.
- Left: none.
- Leans left: The New Republic (−1.09), Raw Story (−0.94), MS NOW (−0.76), The Guardian (−0.70), The Daily Beast (−0.64).
- Center: none.
- Leans right: none.
- Right: none.
Each dot is an outlet that covered it, placed by its audience-lean score (Eady et al. 2025), which measures who shares its links, not how accurate it is. The ticks under the line are all 113 rated outlets Tare reads.