Senator Marco Rubio's Marriage Is Bursting With Red Flags

Longtime Florida Senator turned Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made a name for himself as a family man. He even campaigned on it during the 2016 presidential election. "Yes, I have a child tax credit increase, and I'm proud of it. I am proud that I have a pro-family tax code because the pro-family tax plan I have will strengthen the most important institution in the country — the family," he declared in a campaign video from November 2015 titled "Marco for Rubio for President." Certainly, a far cry from his then-opponent Donald Trump, who had not one but two ex-wives, an alleged affair with Stormy Daniels, and various other cheating scandals attached to his reputation.

Alas, it appears Marco's own family life — namely his marriage to his longtime wife, former Miami Dolphins cheerleader Jeanette Rubio, is chock-full of red flags. With just one tiny peek behind the curtain that is the high-profile couple's marriage, you'll find a young love story that included a few bumps along the way, a wife who keeps her politician husband on a tightly wound leash, and even a jaunt to a couples retreat suggesting that perhaps everything isn't as rosy as they want you to think.

Happily ever after? The story goes that Marco and Jeanette Rubio first met through friends. They were 19 and 17 years old, respectively. Their first date turned out to be a group affair to see the movie "Robin Hood." According to Jeanette, however, it wasn't exactly love at first sight. "Throughout the whole movie he would start talking to me, which I thought was a little annoying," she told Politico in 2012. 

Fortunately, Jeanette ultimately did give him another chance, and the relationship proved to go to the distance. Still, there was one hiccup. While attending school in Miami, Marco developed a taste for the nightlife. In the confines of his book, "American Son," Marco revealed that Jeanette gave him an ultimatum: it was either her or the club. Initially, he picked the latter. It wasn't long, however, until he came to a realization while standing in the midst of a foam party. "As I contemplated my predicament, I looked down at my shoes. They were perfectly white. They had been black when I arrived ... Maybe because I took it as a sign the life I was leading was phony and unsustainable or just that I had suddenly found myself wearing white shoes, a South Beach fashion faux pas, I left the club and found the nearest pay phone," he wrote about the pivotal moment in his life (via Business Insider). The couple tied the knot three years later. 

Trouble in paradise?! Marco and Jeanette Rubio raised eyebrows in 2014 when they attended a couples retreat in Hawaii, sold as an opportunity to obtain "godly counsel on marriage." Alfred Romero, another retreat goer, told The New York Times that the then-senator had expressed to him that he was there "to be on the same page as his wife." According to Romero, at one point, the famous political couple donned shirts that read, "Mr. Right" and "Mrs. Always Right."

Photo of Marco and Jeanette Rubio at Christian couples retreat from 2014. pic.twitter.com/55VU23jHSY

— Michael Barbaro (@mikiebarb) December 14, 2015

Even evangelical pastor Greg Laurie and his wife, Cathe Laurie, who were speakers at the retreat, seemed surprised that Marco was there with his wife. "I met Secretary Rubio over 10 years ago when he was then Senator Rubio," Greg later recalled. "Someone said, 'Would you like to meet Marco Rubio?' They didn't say, 'Senator Marco Rubio.' I thought, 'Wow, someone with the same name as a well-known senator.' Well, it turned out to be one and the same. And we got to know Marco and his wife, Jeanette."

As the old saying goes, where there's smoke, there's fire. It's been widely rumored that Jeanette keeps her politician husband on a tight leash. As reported by The New York Times, during his senate run in 2010, aides recalled that she communicated to his staff in no uncertain terms that "Whenever humanly possible, his travel schedule should bring him home at night for family time." Duly noted.

As for Marco, he hasn't exactly dispelled any of those rumors, either. In the confines of his 2012 book, "American Son," Marco lamented that his "political career had deprived her of the settled, predictable family life she longed for." According to Marco, at one point, she even likened his time working for Bob Dole's presidential campaign in 1996 to that of a mistress. "It feels like you're cheating on me," he quoted her as saying. But aside from keeping tabs on him, it appears that Jeanette is also always ready and willing to dish her hubby a healthy slice of humble pie. Per Yahoo News, when asked by a curious voter how he planned to keep his ego in check if elected as president of the United States, Marco joked, "Oh, her name is Jeanette. You should meet her."