Rubio denies his fashion was inspired by Maduro.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has denied that he drew any fashion inspiration from Venezuela’s former leader, Nicolás Maduro.

A photo of Rubio, wearing a grey Nike tracksuit while traveling with President Donald Trump to China, went viral. The outfit—similar in brand and colour, though not in size—resembled the Nike Tech Fleece jacket that Maduro was photographed wearing while handcuffed in a helicopter after a U.S. forces operation that captured him in his sleep.

White House communications director Steven Cheung posted on social media that Rubio was “rocking the Nike Tech ‘Venezuela’ on Air Force One!”

In his first public response to the viral image, Rubio clarified that he had no connection to Maduro. “You know what — he copied me because I had it before. I mean, I don’t know when he bought his,” he said in an interview with NBC Nightly News from Beijing.

“The bottom line is that that’s a suit, that it’s comfortable,” Rubio added. “There was no message. I didn’t even know he was taking the picture.”

Rubio, a Cuban‑American, has long opposed Latin American leftists and was involved in the planning of the January 3 operation that removed Maduro from power, a figure the United States has described as a longtime adversary.

U.S. prosecutors have charged Maduro and his wife with drug trafficking, allegations they deny. Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, assumed leadership with U.S. support.

AFP

The post US Secretary of State Rubio denies fashion inspiration from Maduro appeared first on Vanguard News.