Rubio bumps water bottles with Netanyahu: The backstory

Chris Moody
·Political Reporter

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's drink of water in the middle of his televised response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address earlier this month truly is "the sip heard 'round the world."

At a meeting Wednesday in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held up a water bottle and toasted the Florida Republican after Rubio told him the story.

“It was totally spontaneous following their more formal photos in front of the U.S. and Israeli flags," a person who was in the room told Yahoo News. "Rubio was directed to his chair and then picked up his water, held it up and said, ‘Cheers!’ When he sat down he quickly told the story of how he raised a bunch of money by selling water bottles following his SOTU response. The prime minister did the toast with the water bottle, and Sen. Rubio laughingly played along.”

Since the night of Obama's annual address, Rubio's water chugging has been parodied countless times online and was the subject of a Saturday Night Live sketch last week. The Florida senator joined in the fun last Wednesday by selling water bottles on his political action committee website, which has since raised more than $100,000.

Rubio, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Foreign Relations Committee, is currently on a trip through the Middle East.