Twitter jokes abound over Rubio's mid-speech water break

Sen. Marco Rubio didn't water down the Republican message. But he did get thirsty.

The man tapped to give the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night started strong, but part of the way through had a touch of cottonmouth.

Rubio paused, picked up a water bottle and took a drink.  That impromptu water break immediately drew a response on Twitter from jokesters eager to contribute their own water-themed ribbing.

One user, JamesPoyser (@jamespoyser) tweeted: “I don’t always drink water, but when I do, I prefer to be awkward. Stay thirsty my friends.”

Another, Democratic strategist Paul Begala (@PaulBegala), wrote, “Marco Rubio: the man you want to have a desperate gulp of water with.”

Rubio, though, got in on the teasing and tweeted a picture of a small water bottle late Tuesday night.