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WaPo tries to shame Rubio's use of military aircraft to see son's football games, his team responds

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Cite

Perry, A. (2026, November 12). WaPo tries to shame Rubio's use of military aircraft to see son's football games, his team responds. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/wapo-tries-shame-rubio-use-military-aircraft-sons-football-games-team-responds

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Fox News · collected 2026-11-12 · by Austin Perry

Quick Summary

This first-person opinion piece defends Secretary of State Marco Rubio against a Washington Post report regarding his use of military aircraft to attend his son's Florida Gators football games. The author highlights that Rubio's son, Anthony, joined the team in 2023 and scored a touchdown in the December 2024 Gasparilla Bowl. The piece emphasizes a staffer's response that Rubio is required to use military aircraft by government protocol and that the Secretary remains unapologetic about attending his son's final year of college football games.
Written by AI on 2026-11-14, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On November 12, 2026, The Washington Post published an article criticizing Secretary of State Marco Rubio for using military aircraft to attend his son's football games at the University of Florida. Rubio's son, Anthony, joined the Florida Gators football team in 2023 as a preferred walk-on running back and has scored a touchdown. In response, Rubio's team defended his actions, highlighting the challenges of being a Republican official facing constant media scrutiny. Rubio's recent travels include a trip to Greece and an appearance at the G7 summit in Paris, indicating his busy schedule.

Written for “Rubio's Use Of Military Aircraft Debated” on 2026-11-15, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly right and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Daily Wire
Hedges 0 of 36 claims Outlet record 59/100
“Article A describes the Washington Post's coverage of Marco Rubio's trips to his son's football games, while Article B discusses the broader context of Rubio's role as Secretary of State and the media's criticism of his actions, not focusing on a specific trip.”
Fox News
Hedges 0 of 16 claims Outlet record 67/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the same general topic but describe distinct events: one is about the Washington Post's criticism of Marco Rubio's use of military aircraft, and the other is about a State Department official's response to the Washington Post's report.”
The Independent
Hedges 1 of 24 claims Outlet record 59/100
“While both articles discuss Marco Rubio's use of military aircraft to see his son's football games, they describe different aspects and sources of the event. ARTICLE A discusses a broader critique of media treatment of politicians, while ARTICLE B focuses specifically on the reaction to reports about Rubio's travel expenses.”
The Guardian
Leans left further left than this Hedges 3 of 22 claims Outlet record 65/100
“Article A focuses on the specific claims about Marco Rubio's spending taxpayer money to attend his son's football games, while Article B discusses the media's criticism of Rubio and his response to it, not the specific spending incident.”

Story

Rubio's Use Of Military Aircraft Debated
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
13
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
1 of 13 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
67/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 7706 article(s) · 14 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 14 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Austin Perry
61 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
- Arizona State vs. UCF has been moved from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. - Kansas vs. West Virginia shifted from 5:30 p.m. up to 3:30 p.m. - Utah vs. Arizona will now kick at 10:30 p.m. to accommodate the Utes flying in this morning.
Yes, it would appear as though we have reached the point where bear videos are hot on the internet.
"Sec. Rubio is entirely unapologetic and will continue to attend as many of his family’s events as his jobs allow— that includes his son’s football games for his final year of college football.
The more this happens, the more we will see videos of our friend here running scared through the streets of the suburbs, which could be dangerous for both the bears and the human population.
This certainly won't help her standing with the libs, but I would venture a guess Sophie doesn't give much of a damn.
The former Steelers wideout was sentenced to to three years of probation during which time he will have to attend weekly counseling sessions and not possess a firearm, among other conditions.
When the streets flood in Florida, residents are bound to see some incredibly weird stuff that would make visitors question their sanity.
He would go on to say that the Big 12 is more competitive than the Big Ten, though that doesn't necessarily mean they are better overall.
In my wildest dreams, I couldn't imagine this was what they were talking about.
Of course, the proliferation of talent would become "flatter" when every program is allowed to legally pay money for players.
Also by Austin Perry
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 61 articles by Austin Perry →

Topics

Greece Paris Republican State The Washington Post

Subjects

Rubio PERSON · 7× Republican NORP · 2× Anthony PERSON · 1× Florida Gators ORG · 1× Greece GPE · 1× Marco PERSON · 1× Marco Rubio PERSON · 1× Paris ORG · 1× State ORG · 1× The Washington Post ORG · 1×

Narrative

It's every dad's dream to get to see his son score a touchdown playing for a Power 4 college football team, but here comes WaPo yucking everyone's yum. Not only did they get Community Noted, one of Rubio's assistant's also came in off the top rope to dunk on them for good measure.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-14
"Sec. Rubio is entirely unapologetic and will continue to attend as many of his family’s events as his jobs allow— that includes his son’s football games for his final year of college football.

Claims (13 extracted, 1 hedged)

Being an elected official and holding public office has to be a tiresome, thankless job. asserted
Being → elect → office
Half the country already hates you because of a certain letter you have next to your name, and some of that other half usually has problems with you because they assume you aren't doing enough of what they voted for. asserted
they → hat → what
If you're a Republican, it has to be even tougher, since most of the mainstream media outlets are looking for any chance to pile on you if you make even the slightest misstep. asserted
you → have → misstep
Rubio has been all over the place lately, from his much publicized trip to Greece last month to his recent appearance at the G7 summit in Paris. asserted
Rubio → publicize → Paris
Apparently, Rubio's globetrotting has caught the ire of The Washington Post, who released an article on Wednesday to try and shame his use of military aircraft to go see his son play for the Florida Gators football team. asserted
son → catch → team
Marco's son, Anthony, joined the team in 2023 as a preferred walk-on running back, and has seen action in quite a few games, scoring a touchdown in the Gators' Gasparilla Bowl appearance back in December 2024. asserted
son → join → December
It's every dad's dream to get to see his son score a touchdown playing for a Power 4 college football team, but here comes WaPo yucking everyone's yum. Not only did they get Community Noted, one of Rubio's assistant's also came in off the top rope to dunk on them for good measure. asserted
one → get → measure
The staffer points out that Rubio is required to use military aircraft as part of government protocols, but my favorite part was the second line of his clapback. asserted
part → point → clapback
"Sec. Rubio is entirely unapologetic and will continue to attend as many of his family’s events as his jobs allow— that includes his son’s football games for his final year of college football. asserted
that → continue → football
As a father, a Gator fan, and a Republican, this response could not make me any happier. If I were blessed enough to be in Rubio's position to be able to fly to my son's football games on a military jet, you'd better believe I'm taking full advantage of that. uncertain
I → make → that
Any of us would do the same. asserted
Any → do → same
Rubio is one of the hardest working people in this administration, so much so that there are even memes of him poking fun at all the different hats he wears. asserted
he → work → hats
If he wants to fly down to Gainesville on a Saturday and watch his boy tote the rock a few times against FAU, I see no problem with it and neither does the U.S. Government. asserted
Government → want → it
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