Marco Rubio trolled for wearing oversized shoes gifted by Trump: 'Those are gonna cause blisters'

WASHINGTON, DC: Marco Rubio’s footwear had social media doing a double-take this week.

The Secretary of State suddenly found himself at the center of online jokes after photos of him appearing to wear a pair of dress shoes that looked a size or two bigger than they should have been surfaced on social media.

It sparked a few chuckles after a report claimed the roomy kicks might have come straight from President Donald Trump himself.

Trump’s surprise shoe gifts

Photos of Rubio’s feet taken on Tuesday began circulating on social media after observers noticed the shoes he was wearing seemed noticeably oversized.

The timing raised eyebrows because the images popped up just a day after The Wall Street Journal detailed an unusual White House tradition that saw Trump allegedly guess the shoe sizes of his allies and order them a pair of $145 Florsheim dress shoes.

The routine reportedly plays out in real time. According to the newspaper, “The president has taken to guessing people’s shoe size in front of them. He asks an aide to put in an order and, a week later, a brown Florsheim box arrives at the White House.”

“All the boys have them,” said one unnamed White House official.

Another source told the Journal, “It’s hysterical because everybody’s afraid not to wear them.”

“Recipients have taken to wearing their Florsheims around Trump, some apparently begrudgingly,” the Journal reported. “One cabinet secretary has grumbled that he had to shelve his Louis Vuittons, according to people who heard the complaint.”

Growing club of Florsheim enthusiasts

Rubio isn’t alone in the alleged footwear club.

Recipients of the presidential shoe gifts reportedly include Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, White House communications director Steven Cheung, White House deputy chief of staff James Blair, speechwriter Ross Worthington, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Fox News host Sean Hannity and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

The shoes themselves come from Florsheim, a long-running American footwear brand. Most of the company’s loafers and oxfords retail for about $145, though some discounted pairs can drop to as low as $50.

The brand has a long résumé. Florsheim was founded in 1892 in Chicago by German immigrant Sigmund Florsheim and his son Milton. The company supplied footwear to American soldiers during both World War I and World War II. President Harry Truman wore them, and Michael Jackson famously moonwalked in a pair of the company’s loafers.

Critics pounce on social media

Once the Rubio photos hit the internet, critics quickly lined up to mock both the apparent sizing issue and the idea of cabinet officials dutifully wearing shoes picked out by the President.

Journalist Euan MacDonald wrote, “Who buys shoes for other people? Mostly parents for their children. Trump buying shoes for his cabinet is a way of belittling them and humiliating them. Rubio even has such a lack of dignity and self-respect before Trump that he’s willing to humiliate himself by shuffling around in shoes that are too big for him.”

Conservative columnist Matt Lewis was concerned that the ill-fitting footwear might be painful, suggesting the shoes could “cause blisters.”

Other social media critics piled on with less restrained commentary.

"Christ, this is so sad and pathetic. Willing to wear shoes that clearly do not fit just to please Cheeto. Bunch of losers," one wrote.

"Can't they just refuse? Clearly the wrong size! Or they can't?" another wondered.

"Trump's cleaning out his closets. A little spring cleaning at Mar-a-Lago," someone else quipped.

"There’s something deeply poetic about the world’s most powerful country being run like a provincial wedding party where the boss buys everyone the wrong shoes and expects loyalty in return," another offered.

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