One of presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) responses to a question during Thursday night’s debate became the subject of a social media meme that has now gone viral.
During the debate, as part of a question about his electability, Rubio was asked about a TIME Magazine article in which it was suggested he was the “Savior of the Republican Party.” Before answering the question—kind of—he addressed the issue of the magazine cover:
“Well, let me be clear about one thing. There is only one Savior and it is not me. It’s Jesus Christ, who came down to this earth and died for our sins. And, I’ve always been clear about that cover story.”
One of the 12.5 million Americans watching that comment was Greg Laurie, the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, which has campuses in Riverside and Irvine, California. He also hosts the nationally-syndicated radio program, A New Beginning, and has authored more than 60 books, including the Gold Medallion Award winner, “The Upside-Down Church.”
Inspired by Rubio’s answer, he crafted a social media meme—an image with a funny or inspirational quote—that featured an image of Rubio with a portion of that quote. He then shared it on Facebook, and from there, it has spread like wildfire.
In sharing the image, Laurie added the following comment:
“This statement was made last night in the Republican debate by my friend Senator Marco Rubio.
“Now, before you tell me why you like or don’t like Marco for President please understand why I posted it. Marco was being asked about the Time cover story that heralded him as ‘The Republican Savior.’ To this, Marco responded, ‘There’s only one Savior,and it’s not me. It’s Jesus Christ who came to this earth and died for our sins.’
“Politics aside, when is the last time you heard a presidential candidate say something like that?
“I just want to applaud Marco for this and any other candidate, regardless of party, who will stand up for their faith in Jesus Christ.
“Please do not get into a political discussion here as that is not my point.
“My point is Marco spoke up for his faith in Christ, which knowing him I can say is genuine.
“We all should do that more.”
The image has been shared nearly 20,000 times from Laurie’s Facebook account and received nearly 75,000 “likes” on the social media platform.
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