‘What is she talking about, my shoes fit fine’, Rubio tells US lawmakers
Thursday, 4 June 2026
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was unimpressed with a lawmaker’s comment about the size of his shoes during a congressional hearing.
Democrat Sara Jacobs compared Rubio’s refusal to say Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to not admitting the shoes Trump bought him were too big.
Rubio questioned if the appearance was a circus, stating that the Florsheim shoes Trump gave him actually fit fine.
Trump bought Florsheim shoes for staff and politicians, with JD Vance recounting that Trump said you can tell a lot about a man by his shoe size.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was unimpressed with a lawmaker’s comment about the size of his shoes during an appearance before a congressional hearing.
Following a line of questioning about Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory, which US President Donald Trump does not acknowledge, Democrat Sara Jacobs added: “You can’t say that [Trump] lost the 2020 election, just like you won’t admit that President Trump is losing this reckless war of choice [in Iran], and just like you couldn’t admit that the shoes the president bought you were too big.”
The shoe size comment was in apparent reference to reporting earlier this year that Trump had been buying his favourite shoes for his staff - and sometimes getting the wrong sizes.
“All the boys have them,” a female White House official told the Wall Street Journal in March. “It’s hysterical because everybody’s afraid not to wear them.”
If Rubio was aware of that reporting, he didn’t show it in the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday (local time).
“I don’t know what shoes she’s talking about,” he said. “What is she talking about?”
When a Republican lawmaker yielded his time to let Rubio respond to Jacobs’ comments, he continued: “Yeah, I don’t know about the shoes. I mean, he gave me some Florsheim shoes that are actually pretty good. They fit fine. I don’t know what she’s talking about. Maybe that’s what she’s referring to.”
Exasperated, Rubio went on: “We’re talking about shoes. Are you guys kidding me? I mean, is this the Foreign Affairs Committee or is this like a circus? What is this?”
The Telegraph reported in March that Trump had “fallen in love with Florsheim”, which sells pairs of shoes as inexpensive as $49.90 (NZ$84.70).
Trump had begun guessing people’s shoe sizes in front of them, ordering Florsheims and delivering them with his signature on the box, the news outlet reported.
Among those who had reportedly received Trump-approved Florsheims were Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, Transport Secretary Sean Duffy, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Fox News host Sean Hannity and Senator Lindsey Graham.
Vance told a crowd at a political event in December last year, recounting a moment in the Oval Office: “[Trump] says, Marco, what’s your shoe size? And Marco’s apparently an eleven and a half. He says, JD, what’s your shoe size? My shoe size is 13. I asked this [unnamed] politician, who I won’t embarrass, what his shoe size is, and he says, seven. The president leans back in his chair and says, ‘You know you can tell a lot about a man by his shoe size.’”