On Monday night, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz upset Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses, taking the first state of the primary campaign. But it was Florida senator Marco Rubio who most outperformed his projections, placing third—just one point behind Trump—and beating his Iowa polling average by six points, more than any other candidate. Rubio had campaigned vigorously in Iowa in the final days before the caucuses, likely contributing to his late surge. He even took a moment to humor a Jewish yarmulke salesman and wish voters a ‘gut shabbos.’
Accosted by Marc Daniels, an enterprising entrepreneur who had decamped to Iowa to sell skullcaps featuring candidates’ names, Rubio gamely attempted to record a Sabbath greeting at Daniels’ urging. Though Rubio was probably familiar with such salutations from his time in Florida—one of his biggest backers is Jewish automotive magnate Norman Braman—he was a little thrown by the Yiddish in ‘gut,’ and it took him a couple tries:
‘Gut’ Shabbos or ‘Boot’ Shabbos? You decide. #2016 #Iowa @mikiebarb pic.twitter.com/7Z3W6s12RB
— Lauren Selsky (@LJSelsky) January 31, 2016
Yair Rosenberg is a senior writer at Tablet. Subscribe to his newsletter, listen to his music, and follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
